Two Minnesota towns have banned the manufacture and sale of hemp-derived edibles and two others are considering their own moratoriums after lawmakers legalized the products earlier this month, the Star Tribune reports. The bans are already in effect in St. Joseph and Marshall while Waite Park and Prior Lake are still considering implementing their own.
Stillwater imposed its own one-year ban last November, prior to the reforms approved by the Legislature, which legalized THC beverages and edibles containing up to 5 milligrams of THC.
The prohibitions are meant to give local officials more time to research the new law and draft ordinances to regulate their manufacture and sale, the report says.
Waite Park Mayor Rick Miller described adult-use cannabis legalization as “an evil that’s going to come.”
“But I also believe that I think this is a perfect example of where the six [St. Cloud-area] cities should get together, and, if they do an ordinance, they should all be mirrored.” — Miller to the Star Tribune
St. Joseph Mayor Rick Schultz told the Star Tribune that he didn’t want to impose a year-long ban, rather one that would only be in effect until city staff can meet with the neighboring cities on a draft that works for the St. Cloud region.
St. Joseph City Administrator Therese Haffner said she expects to see changes in the law from the state, adding that lawmakers passed the bill “without really taking a good strong look at it.”
“If we rush to adopt an ordinance right now, we might be then amending it four times over before one year is up,” she told the Star Tribune.
Under the law, cities and towns are able to regulate where edibles can be manufactured or sold, the age of the seller, and whether there must be a minimum distance between retailers and sensitive areas, like schools, churches, and parks; but it’s unclear whether de facto bans are allowed under the law, Pat Beety, general counsel for the League of Minnesota Cities, said.
“Some of the things we initially [heard] was that this is the Wild West or a free-for-all or something like that – that’s not the case,” Beety told the Star Tribune. “We have a state statute that does have some parameters and some good things in it.”
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