Hopefully, other states can learn from Minnesota's Marijuana mess
We have urged the state to work harder to ease the confusion that arises with each marijuana-related milestone that is passed.
So far, not so good.
Minnesota is just beginning to tackle the many concerns that are arising with the state’s legalization of recreational marijuana. Among them is finding a person who can act as the state’s chief marijuana regulator.
It appeared that particular assignment was checked off the list last week – if only for a day. And now Minnesota’s marijuana quagmire seems a bit deeper, hazier and even more confounding.
In June, the Grand Forks Herald urged the state of Minnesota to “ work to ease confusion of Minnesota’s new pot law .” We noted that “as Minnesota becomes the 23rd state to legalize recreational marijuana, confusion is bubbling at the local level. This isn’t the right way to do this, and the state needs to work now to fix its haphazard approach to legalization.”
Further, we quoted our sister newspaper, the Rochester Post Bulletin, which had written in May that “the devil is in the details.”
Those words sure rang true last month. On Sept. 21, it was announced Erin DuPree would become the state’s first director of the Office of Cannabis Management . She was to start on Oct. 2 and was expected to be responsible for building the new state agency while taking a leading role in establishing the recreational marijuana market in the state.
A day later, DuPree asked the governor to withdraw her appointment after news reports surfaced in the Minneapolis Star Tribune and on Minnesota Public Radio that she had sold disallowed products in her Apple Valley store and also that she had a number of tax liens and unpaid debts from previous businesses.
“Not the finest hour,” Walz said afterward, as quoted on Minnpost.com.
To his credit, the governor also said, “I own this one.”
The Herald has been for legalization of recreational marijuana in Minnesota throughout the process, while always acknowledging the concerns raised by law enforcement personnel, city leaders and others. We have urged the state to work harder to ease the confusion that arises with each marijuana-related milestone that is passed.
So far, not so good. In July, East Grand Forks City Attorney Ron Galstad said he had been fielding questions about the new law , which went into effect Aug. 1. He even called the Attorney General’s Office seeking answers.
However, “nobody is, at this time, giving you any real answers because nobody really seems to know,” he said at the time.
The headline on Page 1 of the Aug. 2 Herald print edition stated it succinctly: "Fazed and confused." The story that published that day noted that " on the first day of marijuana legalization, questions still abound in East Grand Forks ."
