The Marijuana Bill
Yesterday, the Minnesota House of Representatives voted on a bill that would legalize recreational marijuana. The bill, known as HF 600, is a comprehensive bill that also establishes how recreational marijuana would be regulated and taxed. HF 600 was passed by a vote of 72-61.
I voted against HF 600. I think recreational marijuana would be bad for Minnesota. There is clear evidence that marijuana is a gateway drug to many more harmful substances. I especially do not want young people to have government-sanctioned access to a substance that has slowly ruined so many lives.
For more information on this subject, I recommend looking at “Smart Approaches to Marijuana.” Their website can be found here: https://learnaboutsam.org/
Additionally, please watch my below video for more information:
We spent nearly six hours on the floor of the Minnesota House discussing this bill. This was a massive waste of time. The Minnesota Senate has already stated that they have no intention of passing the recreational marijuana bill. If HF 600 is not passed by the Senate, then it will never become law. We should not be spending the last days of regular session discussing a bill that has no chance of becoming law at the present time.
Additionally, the regular session of the Minnesota Legislature is scheduled to end on May 17th, and we still have not passed a new biennial budget. We need to put together a budget if state government is going to continue functioning. Because of all the wasted time, we will now need to call a special session to pass a budget. This will cost taxpayers more money, and it is an irresponsible way to govern.
The Final Week of Regular Session
As I said earlier, the 2021 regular session of the Minnesota Legislature is scheduled to end on May 17th. Unfortunately, your state government has not been focused on productivity or timeliness. Too much time and effort has been spent on political posturing. Both sides of the aisle have been concerned with their own political calculations rather than delivering for you.
I will be staying up in St. Paul all weekend to do the people’s work. Perhaps we can make some progress before the deadline on Monday. I hope other legislators will join me. We certainly need to do better at listening, responding, and delivering.
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