Shortly after Minnesota lawmakers passed a bill to end the criminalization of bong water containing trace amount of drugs, Gov. Tim Walz (DFL) has signed the measure into law.
The change addresses an existing policy that had allowed law enforcement to treat quantities of bong water greater than four ounces as equivalent to the pure, uncut version of whatever drug the device was used to consume.
Four ounces of bong water used to consume methamphetamine, for example, could have been charged as a first-degree felony, punishable by up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
The new bong water provision is part of a sweeping judiciary and public safety bill, HF 2432, which Walz signed into law last week. In relevant part, it clarifies that a mixture of drugs “does not include the fluid used in a water pipe or any amount of a controlled substance that is dissolved in the pipe’s fluid.”
The existing policy was the result of a 2009 state Supreme Court decision, and though it was rarely used by authorities, critics said it allowed prosecutors to selectively go after defendants with the threat of outsized penalties.
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