Democrats shaping plan to legalize recreational marijuana

Advocates for legal recreational marijuana in Minnesota say they are readying a set of principles in the next couple of weeks to guide their push in the session of the Legislature that convenes in February.

“This process that we’re going through — these town halls and developing principles and policy recommendations — at the end of all of this we would expect to be a bill, ready for introduction at the beginning of session, that would be the state-of-the-art in the country,” Rep. Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley, said Tuesday.

Winkler, the House majority leader, has been touring the state hearing Minnesotans’ thoughts on legalization. He also has been meeting with members of Gov. Tim Walz’s administration and House and Senate members, including skeptics and advocates.

Although legislation to legalize recreational marijuana faces steep odds in the Republican-controlled Senate, Walz has instructed state agencies to be prepared to implement a new law if a bill should reach his desk next year. Among the questions facing state officials are the tax, regulatory, law enforcement and economic impact of legal cannabis.

Read more: http://www.startribune.com/democrats-developing-recreational-marijuana-legalization-bill/565166222/