Cannabis will be legal for recreational use in Minnesota on Tuesday, August 1st

Shalon Monroe WDIO

[anvplayer video=”5187201″ station=”998130″]

There have been conversations about this topic for years and soon recreational cannabis use will be legal in Minnesota.

People have their opinions about marijuana, but the ink has dried, and Minnesota is joining 22 other states who have legalized cannabis. Law enforcement across the state has had to come up with brand new rules to make sure this drug is policed in a safe way, in public, on the roads, and in our everyday lives.

“Be mindful of your surroundings, be conscientious of your behaviors in public. I think those are the things that will cause us to come and ask questions; because we still have to make sure that no one is being a danger to themselves or others. If you’re at a level of intoxication, whether that’s alcohol or marijuana or something else, if you’re a danger to yourself or those around you, then we’re going to come in and try to intervene and in a way to get you to a safe place,” said the City of Duluth Police Chief Mike Ceynowa.

Officially starting on Tuesday, August 1st, Minnesota will become the 23rd state to legalize recreational use of cannabis. With the new law, Minnesotans can have two ounces of cannabis on them in public and two pounds at home. There are still rules about when you can use cannabis, for example, not while driving.

Related Story: For Adult Consumers

“It’ll still fall under that same DWI statute, just like if you’re using an intoxicating substance like marijuana or alcohol. All of those are illegal to use while you drive a motor vehicle. The biggest change for us, unlike alcohol, where we have a roadside test to give us a presumptive test, is that if you are over the legal limit, no test currently exists that is vetted through the court system to say that you are intoxicated on marijuana. They’re in the process of developing such a test and as a department, we would be open to being a test site for that,” mentioned Chief Ceynowa.

Safety will be a top priority when it comes to how, when, and where people consume cannabis as Chief Ceynowa shares.

“It’s important for us, as a community to be safe in our use. If people choose to use cannabis, be safe about it, do it in a manner that’s not going to impact the safety of others and that includes not driving. If you’re going to keep it in your home, keep it locked up like you would with other medications, because we also need to protect our youngest members of our community not getting into cannabis or cannabis products.”

Along with the new cannabis law, there will be 12 new state laws, that will go into effect on Tuesday, August 1st.