The lead sponsors of 2023’s recreational cannabis law are sensitive to suggestions that the sweeping law needs “fixing.” Such a word might be interpreted as endorsing Republican talking points that the bill—along with much of the work of the 2023 session—was rushed and that mistakes were made.
Instead, top sponsors of House File 100 say changes they are both proposing, as well others filed by other lawmakers, are expected and routine. The law will be “modified,” not fixed.
“As I said many times last year, it won’t be the last time the Legislature hears a cannabis bill,” said Sen. Lindsey Port, the Burnsville DFLer who was the lead sponsor in the Senate. “Prohibition of alcohol ended nearly 100 years ago and we still have a liquor bill nearly every year.”
That said, what is being proposed to change the law at the midpoint between legalization and retail sales? Both Port and Rep. Zack Stephenson (DFL-Coon Rapids) have said they expect to have an omnibus cannabis bill that will contain all changes in one package.
The Office of Cannabis Management’s 100-page proposal—Senate File 4782/House File 4757—is the stage setter. Even though these bills show Port and Stephenson as sponsors, they put their name on top as a courtesy to the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM). Their own work will likely be affixed to the OCM bill.
The long list of changes would adjust how so-called social equity licenses are distributed, change the ownership ratios for such license holders, bring the hemp-derived market regulation under the Office of Cannabis Management sooner and put numerical caps on each type of license rather than let OCM decide how many the market requires. Many of the changes were suggested as ways to get to the same end point as HF 100 but with less risk of litigation.
Hellbound and Down 