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A headline in Saturday’s edition of the Grand Forks Herald sums up our beliefs about recreational marijuana. “Industry grows as stigma decreases,” the headline read.
The accompanying report outlined the emergence of a new marijuana-based business in East Grand Forks, a Minnesota border town that last week saw its first recreational-use dispensary open.
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Unfortunately, the industry is growing without giving cities their fair share of tax revenue that will come from legalization and the inevitable rising use within their borders.
More on that in a bit. First, some details about that decreasing stigma.
Recreational marijuana has been legal in Minnesota since 2023, when the Legislature approved it. A limited number of tribe-owned dispensaries have since operated across the state, and the state Office of Cannabis Management began issuing the first licenses to cannabis businesses in 2025.
Apparently, Minnesotans tend to approve of its legalization despite not partaking themselves. A 2024 poll showed that only 14% of respondents reported using marijuana or THC products in the previous month, yet a majority said they supported legalization of it on a national level.
So there you have it. As the headline noted, stigma obviously is decreasing. Now comes the industry part.
For example, in Minnesota, total adult-use market sales have surpassed $64 million since September, according to the Office of Cannabis Management. That’s a big jump, and the taxes that it will generate — which will head directly to the state’s general fund — will pay for a lot of public things.
A photo accompanying the Grand Forks Herald story showed East Grand Forks city leaders and representatives from the dispensary cutting a ribbon, marking the business’ official opening. To quote an old cigarette ad from the late 1960s and 1970s, “You’ve come a long way, baby.”
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And why not?
Recreational marijuana is now legal in 24 states. Its precursor, medical marijuana, is legal in 38 states. Even the latter was considered taboo not too long ago.
In conservative North Dakota, then-Gov. Doug Burgum signed a bill in 2019 that decriminalized low-level marijuana possession infractions. In 2024, North Dakota voters denied legalization of recreational marijuana use, with 52.5% against it. In 2022, 55% were against it. In 2018, 59% were against it.
It all shows that every year, that stigma decreases just a bit more.
And whatever our personal beliefs, we figure that’s a good thing, since it shows that it’s inevitable that recreational marijuana will someday be legalized in North Dakota. That’s good, because, as we have said before, legalization will allow the state to tax an industry that obviously already exists, albeit illegally.
We — and others — predict it will foster entrepreneurship and stimulate tourism. Purchasing marijuana at a legal dispensary will be safer than buying it on the street.
And it will mean real revenue in the form of tax receipts. But ideally, the funds should benefit communities that host these dispensaries, and not just the state.
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In Minnesota, that’s not the case. Yet it should be, since cities are tasked with dealing with any troubles that arise within their borders. Local governments are carrying the burden of the costs that will come from marijuana legalization, but are being forced to share the proceeds statewide.
That’s not fair. And it’s a lesson for any other state — North Dakota, for instance — that likely will move in the coming years to legalize recreational marijuana use.
Legalizing marijuana in Minnesota wasn’t a mistake, but keeping cities from directly benefiting from the tax revenue is a big one.
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