Cities across the North Metro area have begun to think about the future of THC products in their hometowns. Some cities have elected to regulate the sale of THC products while others are moving to set moratoriums.
Spring Lake Park city council voted 4-1 in favor of regulating THC products, but their was dissent on the matter.
Other cities are looking to regulate, Lexington is in the process of writing a draft to regulate THC products. Lexington is working with the city attorney to see if they can get THC products to be sold at liquor stores, but based on the wording set by the Minnesota Legislature – THC can not be sold at liquor stores – it will be hard to accomplish.
Some cities are looking at temporary moratoriums to study the sale and impact THC products will have. Centerville is in the process of setting a year long moratorium and will wait to see how other cities are handling it before they consider making any changes.
Centerville will not be doing compliance checks but will investigate if complaints are made to the Centerville officials.
Lino Lakes is in the process of setting a moratorium, officials are looking at writing their ordinance language. Lino Lakes is looking to set a 120-day long moratorium that would start in December, but this is still subject to change.
“At this point we are in the drafting stage. Were looking at other cities. Trying to find a sensible balance in the community,” said John Swenson.
Circle Pines is not looking to make any big changes because they do not have enough shops, if any, that sell the products. Circle Pines will wait and see what develops in their part of the North Metro before they make any decisions.
The City of Blaine and Ham Lake are in the process of deciding what to do, and are not able to comment.
In July, hemp- derived THC – the psychoactive substance in marijuana that gets you high – was made legal. The change came in response to the Agriculture Bill of 2018, that decriminalized the sale of hemp products.
An unregulated hemp-derived THC market, also known as Delta-8 and Delta-9, flooded the market. The Minnesota Legislature sought to regulate the market by putting caps on the limit of THC per milligram allowed and also made it illegal to sell products with packaging that appeals to children.
