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MEMORANDUM <br />TO:MA MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL <br />FROM: KURT B. GLASER & SCOTT BAUMGARTNER, CITY ATTORNEYS <br />SUBJECT: CITY REGULATION OF EDIBLE CANNABINOIDS <br />DATE: 7/22/2022 <br />CC: MARK STATZ, CITY ADMINISTRATOR <br />SUMMARY: It is now legal sell certain edibles and beverages infused with the cannabis ingredient <br />THC. The City should consider regulating sellers and consumers of these products. <br />DISCUSSION: It is now legal to sell certain edibles and beverages infused with <br />tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the cannabis ingredient extracted from hemp. The Legislature passed <br />this new law without the traditional enforcement mechanisms or penalties. This allows Cities to <br />regulate cannabis sales, and enforcement of businesses who sell the products and consumers who <br />buy the products. <br />Staff recommends that the City draft an ordinance to regulate the sale of these cannabis products. <br />We anticipate that a City ordinance regulating these products would look like cigarette and liquor <br />regulation. Due the variations in ordinance from City to City, the League of Minnesota Cites is <br />unlikely to produce sample legislation in the near future. <br />This Council will need to give staff direction. The City's options are to either regulate or not <br />regulate cannabis. A City cannot ban something which the Legislature just made legal. However, <br />a City can tightly control cannabis through land use regulations, business regulations, or both. If <br />they City decides to regulate cannabis, the Council will need to provide staff with its idea as to the <br />extent of regulation. <br />OPTIONS FOR REGULATING CANNABIS <br />A. THE COUNCIL CAN ADOPT A MORATORIUM PROHIBITING THE EXPANSION <br />OF CANNABIS SALES. <br />PROS: A moratorium allows a City to prohibit cannabis sales for a period of up to one year. <br />During that period, the City can study of cannabis sales and use that time to create <br />comprehensive cannabis regulations. This period may also afford the Legislature <br />sufficient time to create state-wide cannabis regulations. <br />CONS: A moratorium will only regulate cannabis sales from vendors entering the market after <br />the moratorium goes into effect. It cannot regulate cannabis vendors which exist prior to <br />the effective date of the moratorium. <br />1 <br />