A majority of the St. Paul City Council declared in a resolution Wednesday that smoking pot should not be illegal.
By a vote of 6-1, the council approved a resolution supporting the “legalization and decriminalization” of the recreational use of cannabis in Minnesota for residents age 21 and older. The resolution, authored by Council Member Dai Thao and co-sponsored by Council Members Mitra Nelson and Rebecca Noecker, also calls for the “expungement of Minnesotan records of convicted cannabis crimes.”
The vote carries no legal weight, but at the request of Council President Amy Brendmoen and Council Member Chris Tolbert, the resolution was amended to be added to the city’s official legislative agenda, a list of requests to state lawmakers.
Allowing cannabis sales, Thao said, “would have a positive impact on our tax revenue … (so) we could finally afford the things we want to do in our city and move our city forward.”
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Council Member Dan Bostrom cast the sole dissenting vote after noting that the city recently cracked down on tobacco sales.
“In the last few weeks we’ve been visited by Clearway Minnesota any number of times,” said Bostrom, referring to an anti-tobacco advocacy group. “People can’t even sell menthol products. … I’m not there yet.”