Opinion editor's note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.
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Recreational cannabis becomes legal in this state starting Tuesday, and while many have hailed this legislation for restoring adult choice, expunging past crimes and other reasons, some significant issues remain to be worked out.
Chief among them is the question of exactly where individuals will be allowed to light up. Regrettably, in its zeal to pass the new legalization bill, the Legislature also appears to have made Minnesota one of the few states to allow smoking or vaping weed allowable on public property. Potentially, that could mean streets, sidewalks, public parks, plazas and other outdoor public gathering spaces.
The new state law allows cannabis use on private property and at licensed events. It is prohibited while driving a vehicle, in public schools, in prisons or anywhere that state law prohibits smoking or vaping of tobacco products or where a minor might inhale smoke —although there is little specificity on how far away the smoker must be. But it is largely silent on other public spaces not already covered by the state's Clean Indoor Air Act.
In an interview with MinnPost, Sen. Lindsey Port, DFL-Burnsville, who carried the bill in the Senate, said she believes that means that unless otherwise prohibited, smoking or vaping would be permitted in any number of public spaces, including outside restaurants and on...
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