Listening session concerning responsible adult-use cannabis legislation held in Austin

A listening session concerning responsible adult-use cannabis legislation was held jointly at the Austin City Council chambers Saturday by Minnesota House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler and State District 27B Representative Jeanne Poppe, a DFL’er from Austin.  The session also featured Maren Schroeder, policy director for Sensible Change Minnesota, an advocacy group dedicated to promoting policy changes involving the use of marijuana, including its medical and recreational uses, with a focus on THC, which contains psychoactive properties.  Representative Poppe spoke with KAUS News and stated that several people on hand talked about possibly making the drug more readily available to aid those who use it for its medicinal value…

Poppe went on to state that others on hand expressed concerns about rushing into the issue too quickly, how the state would pay for the legalization of the drug and whether cannabis would be more accessible to children….

Minnesota’s medical marijuana program was approved by the state Legislature in 2014 as one of the most restrictive programs in the country. Minnesota is one of 33 states with a law allowing medical marijuana, even though federal law still classifies marijuana as a Schedule I substance.

Since Minnesota’s program was launched in 2015, the state has expanded the number of conditions that qualify for a marijuana prescription. Just this week, regulators unveiled a plan to add chronic pain and an eye disease to that list.

The state has also allowed the medication to be delivered in more forms and the two companies that produce the state’s medical marijuana to open new distribution centers around the state.