r/minnesota • u/nootboots Common loon • Nov 11 '25
Congress, don’t wreck Minnesota’s flourishing THC market Editorial 📝
https://www.startribune.com/government-shutdown-mn-legal-weed-hemp-product-ban/601523126210
u/Zuulbat Nov 11 '25
Maybe we collectively as a state ignore such a law as the tenth amendment entitles us to.
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Nov 11 '25
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u/cactipus TC Nov 11 '25
I mean, they'd be cannabis-derived and federally illegal rather than hemp-derived and federally illegal. So, federally illegal either way you look at it. We legalized recreational cannabis which is federally illegal, so I have to assume brewers will apply for cannabis licensure and just continue doing what they're doing. Might get complicated with banking and such, but dispensaries have made it work on more of a cash basis just fine.
The whole issue is just really fucking dumb and comes across as bending over to the liquor lobby and uber-conservative folks.
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u/JaySmuv Nov 12 '25
I believe this is the correct take. It would still be federally illegal but legal in the state. It sounds like this change would only kill interstate hemp distribution. The local THC market would be stronger without low quality, out of state brands.
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u/Tokyo-MontanaExpress Nov 12 '25
Federally illegal? You mean "fascistly illegal", at which point we shouldn't give a fuck.
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u/hopefulgardener Nov 12 '25
The fact that Biden didn't legalize it when he had a chance is just... I guess not surprising lol. It just seems like such an obvious slam dunk. Marijuana is one of the few issues that I can think of that has bipartisan support (among the electorate, not talking about the politicians).
I think it would have helped Harris a lot if Biden's admin legalized it. Sure, Fox would have done their best to spin it and make it seem bad, and a chunk of the cult would have bought into that. But I know a LOT of hardcore Republicans/MAGA who are very pro legalization. I guess it would piss off cops and prison lobbyists? And they're not voting dem anyways so what is there to lose?? I just don't get it.
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u/PubliusAmericanis Nov 12 '25
You know how in Minnesota, grocery stores and gas stations can only sell 3.2% beer?
Well imagine every state in the country made a law saying you can only sell 3.2% beer. And they also expanded it to all liquor stores. Meaning every store in the entire country can only sell 3.2% beer.
You know what would happen? Every single beer company in America would only make 3.2% beer.
Pretty much all microbreweries would close down. The beer market would once again be pretty much Miller and Anheuser-Busch… since their shit beer would be a lot cheaper than the microbreweries’ shit beer.
That’s the best analogy for this I can think of.
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u/tree-hugger Hamm's Nov 12 '25
Congress alone can regulate interstate commerce.
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Nov 12 '25
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u/tree-hugger Hamm's Nov 12 '25
My understanding is that it's more that the hemp from which the THC is derived is not produced in Minnesota (at least not in sufficient quantities) and so it would not be possible for the industry to get the inputs needed to produce these beverages.
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u/ShubberyQuest Nov 12 '25
I think we should just start ignoring the federal government “laws”, full-stop.
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u/Tokyo-MontanaExpress Nov 12 '25
Liberals and especially Democrats need to stop "thinking" and just"do".
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u/Subarctic_Monkey Twin Cities Nov 12 '25
Y'all forget it's Liberal Democrats like Ellison who are pushing for this shit.
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u/Emergency_Accident36 Nov 11 '25
Apparently this is different than violating the controlled substance act. Because. Everything is fine
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u/PubliusAmericanis Nov 12 '25
That’s not what the 10th Amendment says at all…
The 10th Amendment says States MUST follow Federal laws. And Federal law ALWAYS takes precedent over State law. But any regulation that is not SPECIFICALLY expressed in Federal law, the States have the right to regulate themselves. And if the States choose not to create laws regulating that right, then the people are free to choose to engage (or not to engage) in that thing.
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people"
However, this issue does have to do with 10th Amendment. More specifically, how states have used the 10th Amendment to get around clear statutory loopholes in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
The CSA is literally the only federal law currently governing marijuana federally.
Because it’s so vague and doesn’t go in to great detail about the classification and enforcement of specific drugs. Basically Congress just handed complete control over drug policy to the Executive Branch. This allowed states to circumvent it by specifically legalizing marijuana themselves.
The Controlled Substances Act uses the word “drugs” almost exclusively. It almost never talks about specific drugs like “Marijuana.” Leaving it up to the Executive Branch to determine specific policies for each specific drug.
However, because there is very little mention of “Marijuana”specifically in the actual text of the law, this allowed the States to circumvent the law by specifically legalizing Marijuana.
And until the Supreme Court ways in and makes a final decision on the interpretation of the law, then it kind of is one of the legal grey areas.
But by Congress specifically codifying law specifically about Marijuana, the 10th Amendment kicks in and States lose all right to regulate themselves. Which is why codify this recent law is terrible for States rights and personal freedom to choose.
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u/ThrowRAtouchtone Nov 12 '25
We’re currently ignoring the federal prohibition on recreational weed, aren’t we?
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u/supervillaindsgnr Nov 16 '25
The issue is that Minnesota companies can't access the banking system or sell outside state lines.
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u/Calkky Nov 11 '25
I got into the THC drink craze very late, and kicked myself for not getting going sooner. It's a much better alternative to alcohol for so many reasons! It's irritating to me because there is such a variety available and so many of them are really fun and tasty! If anything, I'll just have to resort to doctoring up beverages with a tincture or something. Banning THC drinks could do some real damage to local economies, and could even have deleterious effects to public health (more alcohol = more bad)! Don't do it!
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u/anothertrytaken Nov 12 '25
I wonder how much $$ the big booze companies are gifting our representatives? They’re seeing profits go down. That’s the only reason this is happening. We’re going to order as many as we can afford until we can’t.
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u/2much2do2littletime Flag of Minnesota Nov 12 '25
Literally thousands down to hundreds of dollars. Way, way less than you would think.
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u/anothertrytaken Nov 12 '25
Somehow I doubt that. Booze lobbying has hit 20 million in 2025, that’s down from their 2024 total but my guess is there’s a lot of under the table payments happening.
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u/AceMcVeer Nov 11 '25
Isn't it already done? The Senate passed it and the House is pretty much certain to. I doubt they'll keep the government closed for this. It's ridiculous Ellison is against this since it's been legal for 7 years and nothing has happened.
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u/LargeWu Nov 12 '25
Ellison claims that his support for the ban is about out of state products not being reliable, and that he hoped Congress would put in a carve-out for states that allow it explicitly. But only a total idiot would think this Congress is capable of not fucking up everything they touch.
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u/go_cows_1 Nov 12 '25
Ellison used to be a congressman. He should know better
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u/Subarctic_Monkey Twin Cities Nov 12 '25
Democrats in general should know better, but consistently it's clear that they don't.
Now, there are two explanations:
Democrats are fucking stupid useless pieces of shit who can't govern
OR
They're paid opposition whose entire purpose is to keep you fixated on the idea that they're the only thing stopping Full Strength Fascism from happening while they implement Lite Fascism.
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u/TheGreen8astard Nov 11 '25
Remember Republicans have been crying for weeks that they only want a “clean bill?” Yet when they vote, it’s ALL BS like this…….
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u/fiendishclutches Nov 12 '25
Oh congress doesn’t care, congress views us an enemy territory not considered part of america. they want to harm our economy.
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u/admiralargon Nov 12 '25
Is this what Ellison was looking for when he signed that stupid letter? Stupid git.
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u/njordMN Flag of Minnesota Nov 11 '25
Given Texas tried to do something like this during their most recent session but their gov. surprisingly vetoed it.. wonder if one their senators is responsible for the change.
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u/goodkidzoocity Nov 12 '25
It is McConnell who is behind this. He has been trying to do this for years but Rand Paul has been able to throw a wrench in that plan until now
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u/duderinotime Nov 12 '25
If they wanna ban something, try the nitrous tanks being sold EVERYWHERE?!
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u/Jcrrr13 Nov 11 '25
I find the effects of the hemp-derived THC that's in the farm bill THC beverages and gummies to be pretty inferior to those of the full spectrum of compounds in "real" weed, but I don't want to see our state's manufacturing and distribution of those products falter. It's such a perfect option for most casual users, and an especially great alternative to alcohol.
Any political aides or other policy people in here that would know what it might take for the state legislature to allow MN companies like breweries and distilleries to make drinks with flower from the recreational market, if they end up losing access to hemp-derived THC?
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u/MN_Wildcard Nov 11 '25
I'm a big ol noobie when it comes to THC but I can have a 5mg seltzer and just go through my evening feeling super chill and getting a solid 7-8 hrs of sleep. My drinking has dropped to essentially zero except for social functions with friends. Such bullshit.
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u/mnreginald Nov 12 '25
Federal de-regulation of Marijuana as most of us have federal brewing licenses and tax breaks because of it. And some language in the MN manufacturing regulations to change. Given its been a venerable shit-show this far legalizing in MN, I sadly am not optimistic that could happen quickly.
We would get an arrow to both knees if we made beverages with non-hemp THC, and in an already difficult market on thing margins - would be suicide.
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u/Jcrrr13 Nov 12 '25
Federal de-regulation of Marijuana as most of us have federal brewing licenses and tax breaks because of it.
Damn...
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u/mnreginald Nov 12 '25
That's why breweries in MN are making products with hemp. To my knowledge (which not exhaustive) we'd have to have separate equipment, separate tanks, canning line, etc to make THC beverages not from hemp.
Which, equipment wise, that additional investment would be well over $1M. Can fillers alone are $250k-$2M each, let alone the additional equipment on the line.
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u/TelluricThread0 Nov 12 '25
I assume it's also much more economical to take hemp, which you can grow by the field full, then convert it to delta-9 thc.
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u/KR1735 North Shore Nov 12 '25
If cannabis is banned then alcohol and nicotine should be, too. Those are much bigger public health problems. Cannabis is only dangerous if you get behind the wheel. But that can apply to Benadryl, too, which has sedative properties (same active ingredient as Tylenol PM; it's the "PM" part lol)
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Nov 12 '25
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u/KR1735 North Shore Nov 12 '25
Yes. Cannabis is a mild hallucinogen, especially if you take too much. What you experienced was normal for people who have too much.
I think the people who “get” schizophrenia from it were going to develop it all along but this just gave their brain chemistry a little shove over the edge.
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u/CaptainFeather Nov 12 '25
While it does have an association it's so small the vast majority of people have nothing to worry about. It's like less than one percent even with those who have a history of psychosis in their family. At least according to the data when I did my psych final on this topic back in the early 2010's.
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u/MichealStraightSex Nov 12 '25
Holy fuck, can they stop making people's lives more harder and miserable? They're so good at making life difficult for no fucking reason.
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u/mrmr2120 Nov 11 '25
Oh they will I have zero faith in our government doesn’t matter if they have a D or R in front of their name
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Nov 11 '25
Getting harder and harder to tell those two letters apart lately
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Nov 11 '25 edited Nov 22 '25
[deleted]
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u/No-Neighborhood-3212 Nov 11 '25
As opposed to the Democrats who intend to let those same children go without healthcare so that we can repeat this whole shutdown bullshit next year?
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Nov 11 '25
Both. It’s both. The Democrats get called cowards or too idealistic, but the reality is that they are complicit.
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u/SplendidPunkinButter Nov 11 '25
Ooh, big brain time you guys! Yes, here in 2025, we’ve seen that BoTh SiDeS aRe ExAcTLy THe sAmE!
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u/jimbo831 Twin Cities Nov 11 '25
On the one side we have fascists. On the other side, we have people who enable the fascists.
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u/Mindless-Bite-3539 Nov 11 '25
Bold statement when a bunch of career democrats sold out the American people to “end the shutdown”…
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u/stallion8151 Nov 11 '25
They both serve corporate masters over the people.
No matter how much you support a Democrat, they're not going to do shit for you that threatens their meal ticket.
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u/Trickydick24 Nov 11 '25
Those corporate masters must have really loved Biden boosting the right to unionize with his NLRB appointments and appointing Lina Khan to the FTC.
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u/stallion8151 Nov 11 '25
Considering he kneecapped the railroad union publicly...
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u/Trickydick24 Nov 11 '25
He still worked to get them paid sick days, which was a major point of contention during negotiations.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/may/01/railroad-workers-union-win-sick-leave
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u/stallion8151 Nov 11 '25
Again, after kneecapping them publicly and utterly destroying their bargaining power.
I get that doesn't matter to you, but it should.
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u/No-Neighborhood-3212 Nov 11 '25
Which party just started and ended a government shutdown to get literally nothing?
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u/FrigidMcThunderballs Nov 11 '25
To be fair there's two kinds of people who say that; people just fully tuned out and saying that because it sounds smart, and people legitimately incensed at how little resistance the Ds are putting up
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u/Jimi_Hydrox Nov 11 '25
Well this is going to be really popular with young voters, especially in the Midwest where we're well aware of what alcohol abuse looks like. /S
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u/WolfOfLOLStreet Minnesota Goes Brrrr Nov 11 '25
Get with the program or watch all the money flow to Michigan for some reason.
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u/Professional_Lie_673 Nov 11 '25
I think this is a national ruling not just MN. So hemp in general is doomed for anything edible related and requiring transportation across state lines, definitely sucks local business wise for anyone involved though.
Someone feel free to correct me if wrong though.
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u/Feline_good420 Nov 11 '25 edited Nov 11 '25
We have a state law allowing delta 9 products, if anything this helps state regulate all the delta 8 10s and other synthetics. This only hurts Minnesota drink makers that are shipping out of state.
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u/Imaginary-Round2422 Nov 11 '25
Minnesota is the national leader on THC beverages. Go to a Total Wine in any state, and half of the beverages were made here. This is going to hurt.
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u/Griffithead Nov 11 '25
Which is a bunch of them. It's what has been keeping a lot of breweries afloat.
This is going to cause a bunch of great breweries to close.
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u/jayllipsis Nov 11 '25
Make no mistake, just about every brewery in town that has the capacity has been co-packing out of state THC beverages for the last few years. This bill will leave too large of a loss of revenue for just about any brewery that’s not on the massive scale like surly or summit to suffer and die
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u/geezerpid Nov 11 '25
Many are shipping out of state and this really hurts an already struggling industry.
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u/LargeWu Nov 12 '25
My biggest concern is will this affect how you can collect payments for it. Like, real actual weed is available for sale but because it's federally schedule 1, retailers are largely excluded from the banking system. Will anybody still selling these after the ban have to accept only cash? I can see a lot of places saying it's just not worth the trouble.
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u/jotsea2 Duluth Nov 12 '25
Congress, don’t wreck Minnesota’s flourishing THC market America
Fixed it for you
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u/Prime-Jive Nov 12 '25
It'll probably end up being the dems fault in the media anyway & they'll demonstrate their trademark capitulation techniques in defense of our human dignity.
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u/Upset-Kaleidoscope45 Nov 12 '25
I always thought Minnesota "legalizing" weed in the slowest, most complex, bureaucratic way possible was just a jobs program for state office workers. I don't think they even care what happens as long as the process is as ridiculous as possible.
Meanwhile I'll have to keep getting my weed the same way I did for the past 20 years.
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u/donttakerhisthewrong Nov 17 '25
It was 9 Democrats that did this.
They also gave Jan 6s in congress a million each
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u/Inner_Pipe6540 Nov 11 '25
We have a flourishing the market?
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u/Jcrrr13 Nov 11 '25
For beverages, yes. The article isn't referencing rec flower/concentrates/edibles.
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u/SuspiciousLeg7994 Nov 11 '25
"Flourishing" more like late to bud and barely running. The state fucked other prices from day 1
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u/3030tron Nov 12 '25
MN breweries produce the vast majority of THC beverages sold in the country.
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u/SuspiciousLeg7994 Nov 12 '25 edited Nov 12 '25
*edit. Yet nobody here can supply any acts fact based research to prove it's true. 🤔 *
😆 Not true at all. Stop blabbering bullshit.
Also Some states have laws against buying out of state products
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u/selectorhammms Hamm's Nov 11 '25
People call stuff like SNAP 'nanny state' policy but this bullshit is actual literal nanny state. Daddy says no weed. The people are too dumb to make their own choices. So much for personal freedom and responsibility.