State Auditor Julie Blaha:

• Was endorsed by Michael Ford, Executive Director of MN NORML and 2018 Legal Marijuana Now candidate for State Auditor
• Responded to the MNisReady Coalition Questionnaire and:
  • Supports:
    • Full legalization of cannabis for adults over the age of 21
    • A social and racial equity cannabis business licensing program
    • Incentives for cannabis industry economic development in economically depressed communities
    • Preventing “prohibition jurisdictions” throughout the state
    • Rigorous testing, labeling, and packaging requirements
    • Creating a craft market
    • Expungement or other removal of cannabis conviction records for possession and small sale or cultivation crimes
    • Making underage personal possession a petty misdemeanor civil infraction
    • Requiring peace-labor agreements for the cannabis industry
    • Employment and housing protections for consumers
    • Robust changes to the current medical cannabis market
    • Breaking up the current medical cannabis duopoly
  • Says: “As the State Auditor, I support local control so people have the freedom to make decisions in their own communities. I would like to see local tax revenue invested in the same way other forms of revenue, particularly other forms of agriculture, are invested at the local level.”
  • When asked how she will engage supporters of cannabis legalization in her campaign, Auditor Blaha responded: “First, I’m reaching out to organizations like yours to listen and share how legalization impacts the Office of the State Auditor (OSA). In addition, I share the issue as I travel the state connecting with voters, local leaders, and community members. The issues around underbanking (being inadequately underwritten by financing institutions) are particularly effective illustrations of why no matter what you care about, you care about the office of the state auditor.”
  • Auditor Blaha also said, “Cannabis legalization is part of my platform because inconsistent regulation of cannabis can lead to cannabis growers and distributors to be underbanked. Underbanking leads to disproportionate reliance on cash transactions, including paying taxes and government fees in cash. Cash transactions increase risk of error and fraud, so legalization would increase access to financial institutions and reduce risk of fraud, waste, and abuse. My positions can be found at blahaforauditor.org.”