Minnesota Will Pay Reparations… for WeedBY LINCOLN BROWN
AUGUST 04, 2023
Are there any historians, professional or armchair, in the ranks of the PJ Media readers? I am trying to figure out exactly when America’s Upper Midwest lost its mind. By my reckoning, it happened sometime in the 90s, right around when Garrison Keillor became a hit on NPR. All of a sudden, Minnesota was the place to which all good Lefties turned for their cultural cues.
I remember this because I was an NPR/PBS fan at the time and all of their merch catalogs featured items from Minnesota. Despite being a true believer, even I couldn’t figure out why Minnesota was the new “cool thing,” aside from all those “Lake Woebegon” stories. I’d be interested to see if someone could shed some light on the issue. The reason I ask is because whatever happened to turn Minnesota (and Wisconsin) into bastions of liberal thought worked like a charm. By way of evidence, I offer the latest development out of Minnesota. The state is planning to pay reparations for marijuana users who were unjustly impacted by “prohibition.”
According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the “CanRenew” grant program will start in fiscal year 2026 for the state. The program is a grant that was part of the recreational marijuana law that was passed by the state. It will allocate $15 million per year to “eligible organizations in communities that have high concentrations of people who were convicted for a marijuana offense or had family members who were convicted.” State senator Lindsey Port, who sponsored the marijuana bill, told the paper:
This is a form of reparation. Direct harm has been done to communities by prohibition and by the state, and it is our responsibility to undo that harm. This is really our first major investment in doing that, and it should have the same kind of lasting effects that, unfortunately, the war on drugs has had on communities of color. When we look at what is the most effective way the state can invest or disinvest in people, it is by investments we choose to make in communities.
The paper said that the grants will go to “project[s ] or program[s ] designed to ‘improve community-wide outcomes or experiences,’ including efforts to boost economic development, public health, violence prevention, youth development or civil legal aid.” Sounds vague enough for the requisite amount of unchecked, unaccountable spending and abuse. Incidentally, the program will be handled by the Office of Cannabis Management. The paper noted that the program is part of several efforts under the new marijuana law that “seek to repair past harms.” Minnesotans who have misdemeanor cases involving weed will automatically have these cases expunged, and there will also be a Cannabis Expungement Board that will review felony cases. And anyone who meets the “social equity criteria” will have preference when applying for a cannabis business license.
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Source:
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/lincolnbrown/2023/08/04/minnesota-will-pay-reparations-for-weed-n1716311
