Backers say MN will legalize recreational marijuana in 2023, analysts not so sure

Backers say 2023 will be the year recreational marijuana is legalized in Minnesota, with Democrats controlling the legislature and Governor Tim Walz reportedly saying it will be one of the first things to pass.   But analysts are less certain.  Hamline University Professor David Schultz points out Senate Democrats, with only a one-vote majority, need even their members from more conservative districts to vote “yes”:

“If they don’t give a pass to anybody, they’re gonna need all 34 (votes).  That’s gonna be a very, very tough thing to get and, if they do insist on all of ’em voting that way, they may pay a price in four years.”

D-F-L Representative Mike Freiberg from Golden Valley says he’s “certainly heard positive statements from individual Senate Democrats” but acknowledges “it’s a very narrow majority… so any individual senator could play an outsized role in what it ends up looking like.”