The sale and consumption of some low-dose edibles became legal in Minnesota yesterday. Weed supporters are happy, but one legislator says he wasn’t aware what he voted for. Sure he wasn't! Via Courthouse News Service:
A new state law allows Minnesotans over the age of 21 to buy food and beverages containing up to 5 milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) per serving– up to 50 milligrams per package. THC is the active ingredient in marijuana that gives users a high, one of many psychoactive compounds found in the drug. Consumers could be seen lining up outside the state’s relatively few hemp-product stores, eager to get a taste of newly legal gummies, chocolates and drinks.
Legalization comes as something of a side effect, having been part of an effort to regulate an existing market for delta-8 THC, a cannabis derivative not previously regulated under state or federal law. State law prevented the sale of hemp and cannabidiol products with more than 0.3% delta-9 THC, the primary intoxicant in smokable marijuana. Delta-8 is typically found in much smaller quantities in marijuana, and is extracted through more complicated and varied chemical processes than its cousin delta-9.
Oy, my head hurts just thinking about it! Gimme a gummy, will ya? State senator Jim Abeler is confused, too:
While some Minnesota Republicans have expressed support for legalization, party leadership in both the House and Senate has opposed it at almost every turn. Still, Tarasek said, he found Abeler’s claim of cluelessness hard to believe.
“This bill had been under discussion from day one of session,” he said. “I met with many Republican senators about this– it wasn’t any mystery what we were up to.” Nevertheless, he said, “I think Senator Abeler and his colleagues are going to see that this is nothing to be afraid of.”
Pushing for a rollback, he said, may not be a good move strategically.
“I don’t think that position is going to be popular among voters,” Tarasek said, “and I can almost guarantee you that the DFL is going to make this an issue in November.”
