Now that marijuana is legal in Minnesota, what’s next for advocates?

ST. PAUL — As of Tuesday, Aug. 1, possession and use of recreational marijuana for adults is legal in Minnesota. But what’s next for the advocates who fought for decades to change the law?

While supporters and enthusiasts celebrated Minnesota becoming the 23rd state to officially legalize marijuana on Tuesday, for many, state policy on the substance still has areas for improvement.

The new law’s limits on possession and personal sales of marijuana still pose an undue burden on users of a legal substance, they say, and some are still serving sentences for marijuana from a time when stiffer penalties were on the books.

At a Tuesday news conference at a cannabis business just outside downtown St. Paul, members of Minnesota NORML, a pro-legalization group, laid out their goals for the coming legislative session.

“We finally have gotten there, and we are so happy about that. We’re not done yet, though, because prohibition isn’t quite over,” said Thomas Gallagher, a criminal defense and marijuana attorney who serves on the board of Minnesota NORML.

NORML and others scored a major victory with this year’s legalization bill, but in the coming legislative session, they hope to make further tweaks to state law.

Their No. 1 priority in the 2024 legislative session? Lifting the possession limits that came with legalization.

Under the current marijuana law signed into law earlier this year, Minnesotans may possess up to 2 pounds of the substance in their home for personal use and 2 ounces on their person.

There are also restrictions on the amount of concentrated cannabis, known as “dabs” or “wax.” Anyone possessing more than 800 milligrams of concentrated marijuana can face a legal penalty.

Marijuana advocates say there should not be any restrictions on possession amounts for a lawful substance. They point to the fact that there is no restriction on the number of bottles of wine or gallons of beer a person can have in their possession.

“Don’t talk to us about … ‘why do you need this much?’ Don’t talk to us about that. We don’t need to justify our freedom, you need to justify taking our freedom away,” Gallagher said.

On another front aimed at expanding marijuana freedoms, advocates are also hoping to loosen restrictions on the sale of marijuana grown at home. Minnesota created a licensing scheme for cannabis businesses to operate in the state and a regulatory office to oversee the industry, but home growers are only allowed to give away marijuana, not sell it.

As of Aug. 1, anyone living in Minnesota can have up to eight marijuana plants — four of which can be flowering plants that produce buds rich in THC, the psychoactive chemical that produces a “high.”

Advocates say that Minnesota’s constitution offers protections for the sale of homegrown goods such as produce, and they plan to push for a “farmers market bill” to regulate homemade marijuana products.

Currently, a person is entitled under a constitutional amendment passed around 90 years ago to sell what they have grown without a license so long as it is produced where they live. NORML is pushing for regulations for homegrown marijuana in what they say is an attempt to reduce confusion surrounding the legality of doing so.

NORML also plans to push for the state to allow individuals to give their right to keep eight plants to cooperatives that would grow the plants on their behalf.

Legalization advocates say they also plan to do more to address the criminal justice impacts of the now-lifted state prohibition on marijuana.

One of the more significant parts of Minnesota’s 2023 legalization is the expungement of misdemeanor marijuana offenses from state criminal records, and the establishment of a board to review and expunge felony marijuana offenses.

NORML says it plans to push for the immediate release of anyone incarcerated for cannabis crimes that have been repealed, and for others to be eligible for sentence reductions.

Much of Minnesota’s legalization law went into effect on Tuesday, but it will take a while before dispensaries can begin selling outside tribal reservations. It could take 12 to 18 months before the first dispensaries open.

In the meantime, already-legal hemp-derived THC edibles continue to be available in the state, though under a new licensing program. Minnesota legalized the products last year in a move that caught many by surprise — the language was tucked in a broader health bill.

While advocates say Minnesota’s legalization law still places unfair restrictions on marijuana, it does have loose requirements on where it can be consumed — despite the bill’s language appearing to say otherwise.

The law initially appeared to restrict cannabis use to a private setting like a home or at an establishment or event licensed for on-site consumption. But Senate bill sponsor Lindsey Port, DFL-Burnsville, told MinnPost in July that use will be allowed on sidewalks and in parks unless a local government moves to ban it specifically.

Follow Alex Derosier on Twitter @xanderosier or email aderosier@forumcomm.com .