The Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee defeated a bill Monday, March 11, that would have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. The committee action came on a party-line vote, with Republican members voting against moving the bill forward. The unfavorable vote likely ends further Senate action on the bill during the 2019 legislative session.
Sponsored by Senator Melisa Franzen, DFL-Edina, the bill, SF 619, would have created a legal, regulated commercial market for the sale and use of marijuana by individuals twenty-one years of age and older. It also included a means to expunge criminal records of people convicted of nonviolent, marijuana-related charges.
Opponents of the measure expressed concerns over users being under the influence while driving, minors having greater access to the drug and individuals using the drug to treat undiagnosed mental illness.
An effort to form a task force to further study the issue failed to gain Republican support.
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