This week, Minnesotan lawmakers approved a bill that basically legalizes edible cannabis products.
Some GOP state lawmakers believed they were merely controlling delta-8 products’ THC content.
The THC concentration cap of 5 mg, however, is applicable to all products, including cannabis.
According to the Star Tribune, a prominent Republican in the Minnesota senate was shocked to learn this week that they had backed legislation that would have allowed cannabis treats.
Delta-8 THC, a less potent version of the primary psychoactive substance in marijuana made from hemp, has been used by Minnesotans for years. However, that was only possible by abusing a legal loophole because the popular CBD products sold in other states were explicitly forbidden.
Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, signed a bipartisan measure that legalizes CBD products and controls delta-8 edibles and beverages into law back in May in an effort to properly regulate the business. Now, the maximum amount of THC that can be found in hemp-derived goods in the state is 5 mg per dose and 50 mg per package.
But the type of THC is not specified by the legislation. As a result, goods containing the stronger version, delta-9, are now permitted.
Some people claim to be shocked.
According to the Star Tribune, Republican state senator Jim Abeler, who heads the finance and policy committee for the human services reform, said last week that he initially assumed the remedy was a technical one but that it ended up having a bigger impact than he had anticipated. He argued that the statute might be amended by the legislature.
It shouldn’t have come as a shock.
However, Carol M. Moss, a lawyer who advocates for cannabis businesses in the state, told Insider that she believes the majority of politicians were fully aware of what they were doing.
She claimed that the inclusion of the THC caps at a House committee hearing in March demonstrated that this was not a last-minute, behind-closed-doors decision. All of this was completed in broad daylight.
In fact, state Sen. Michelle Benson, a Republican, admitted to the Star-Tribune that she was aware that the law would legalize delta-9 THC but added that she “did not discuss that directly” with Sen. Jeremy Miller, the party’s leader in the upper chamber.
In response to a comment request in an email, Miller didn’t react right away.
According to Moss, it’s conceivable that at least some lawmakers were perplexed, which is why she thinks a state committee made up of technocrats who are more familiar with the science would be better suited to regulate the cannabis sector.
Legislators sometimes attempt to govern things they do not fully understand, and when they do so, they do so piecemeal, which always leads to issues, the speaker added.
Democrats who favor full legalization of marijuana for recreational use assert that there is no turning back.
