Minnesota Democrats tout THC edible policy, urge full marijuana legalization

Days after Minnesota businesses got the green light to start selling cannabis-infused gummies and other food and drink products, Democratic-Farmer-Labor legislators said the new law helped ramp up consumer protections but still needed to be tweaked to help enforce restrictions around the edibles.

And given the positive public response over the weekend to the rollout of the sale of products containing servings of up to 5 milligrams of THC, the lawmakers said the state ought to move forward with a broader plan to legalize marijuana for recreational use for those 21 and older.

“Minnesota strongly favors this change,” House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley, said during a news conference Tuesday outside of Indeed Brewing Co. “It was an intentional step forward, and it is an opportunity for Minnesota businesses and consumers to have access to a product that can be safe and is widely available and in use today, however, through an illicit marketplace.”

The celebratory comments came after a new state law took effect on July 1 allowing those 21 and older to buy food and drink products that contain up to 5 milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive part of cannabis. State law stipulates that consumers can buy packages of hemp-derived THC products, as long as they don’t exceed more than 50 milligrams and are not shaped like people, animals or fruit, nor can they be modeled after products marketed to children. Producers of commercially available candy and snacks are also barred from adding THC to existing products. [Read more at Twin Cities Pioneer Press]