>> THE MINNESOTA HOUSE AND SENATE HAVE PASSED LEGAL MARIJUANA BILLS AND NOW A CONFERENCE COMMITTEE NEEDS TO IRON OUT DETAILS.

RECENTLY THE STAR TRIBUNE TOOK A LOOK AT TWO STATES AND THEIR EXPERIENCES WITH LEGAL CANNABIS.

REPORTER BROOKS JOHNSON FOCUSED ON MICHIGAN.

REPORTER RYAN FAIRCLOTH TOOK A DEEP DIVE INTO THE COLORADO EXPERIENCE.

WELCOME, FELLAS.

RYAN, COLORADO WAS LIKE THE PIONEER IN THIS.

>> YEP, YEP, MARIJUANA IS NEARLY A DECADE OLD THERE.

>> IS IT A MATURE INDUSTRY IS THERE THERE?

HOW'S IT GOIN'?

>> YEAH, I THINK AND BROOKS WILL SPEAK TO THIS TOO IN TERMS OF THE EARLY DAYS AND LATE DAYS AT FIRST ON THE FRONTEND SUPPLY WAS LOW, PRICES WERE HIGH.

THAT'S TOTALLY CHANGED NOW, SUPPLY IS ABUNDANT.

THE MARKET'S PRETTY SATURATED EVEN AND SALES ARE EVEN STARTING TO DIP A LITTLE BIT.

>> Mary: YEAH, BROOKS, I WAS WONDERING TOO IF MICHIGAN IS THE MORE ANALOGOUS EXAMPLE.

IT'S UPPER MIDWEST.

I'VE HEARD A LOT OF PEOPLE SAY WE NEED TO LEARN ABOUT MICHIGAN, COLORADO IS LONG AGO AND DIFFERENT.

>> MICHIGAN LEGALIZED BY VOTER INITIATIVE IN 2018.

THE FIRST SALE WASN'T UNTIL LATE 2019.

IT TAKES ABOUT THAT LONG WE'VE FOUND LOOKING AT OTHER STATES TO SET UP THEIR MARKET SO IF MINNESOTA PASSES HERE IT PROBABLY WILL TAKE AT LEAST THAT LONG.

IT WAS THE FIRST MIDWESTERN STATE AS WELL TO LEGALIZE, ILLINOIS, SHORTLY AFTER.

>> ARE THESE GOVERNMENTS GETTING RICH?

>> WELL, SO COLORADO HAS DONE ABOUT 2 AND A HALF BILLION IN TAW REVENUE.

THAT'S A LOT OF MONEY, IT'S HELPED TO FUND THINGS, I THINK TOP LINE ITEM IT'S HELPED TO FUND IS PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

MINNESOTA, WILL WE HAVE THAT SAME WINDFALL?

WE HAVE A MUCH LOWER TAX ATE IN THE TWO BILLS WE'RE LOOKING AT SO IT MIGHT NOT BE QUITE THE SAME.

>> Eric: MICHIGAN?

>> YEAH, MICHIGAN, 10% EXCISE TAX, AND THAT OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS HAS BROUGHT IN ABOUT $700 MILLION.

I DID A LITTLE MATH, THEY HAVE ABOUT TWICE THE POPULATION AS MINNESOTA AND OUR TAX RATE WOULD BE A LITTLE LOWER SO WE CAN EXPECT IN A FEW YEARS SEVERAL HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS IN TAX REVENUE DEPENDING ON WHICH TAX RATE THE HOUSE AND SENATE ULTIMATELY AGREE ON.

>> Mary: ONE OF THE BIGGEST ARGUMENTS WE'RE SEEING IS LOCAL CONTROL, THIS IS WHAT REPUBLICANS WERE REALLY CONCERNED ABOUT, LOTS OF AMENDMENTS.

EVEN IN THE SENATE THERE WAS AN AMENDMENT ON LIMITING THE QUANTITY, SO TITCH OF LOCAL CONTROL, HOW MUCH DO WE SEE IN THESE TWO STATES, CAN MUNICIPALITIES OPT OUT, LIMIT THE NUMBER?

>> COLORADO ALLOWS OPTOUT.

AND TO THIS DAY THE SECOND LARGEST CITY IN COLORADO, COLORADO SPRINGS DOESN'T ALLOW MARIJUANA SALES.

YOU CAN'T OPT OUT OF ALLOWING PEOPLE TO POSSESS MARIJUANA, THAT'S LEGAL ACROSS THE STATE BUT COMMERCIAL SALES ARE NOT ALLOWED IN COLORADO SPRINGS AND EST YES PARK NEAR ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK BECAUSE THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK IS FEDERAL LAW SO YOU CAN'T POSSESS MARIJUANA IN THAT PARK ANYWAY.

>> Mary: WHAT ABOUT MICHIGAN AND LOCAL CONTROL?

>> MICHIGAN ALSO IS OPT-IN, OPT-OUT STRUCTURE.

WHAT FOLKS HAVE SEEN IN MICHIGAN IS THAT MOST MUNICIPALITIES ND COUNTIES OPTED OUT.

THEY'RE LARGELY RURAL BUT AT THE SAME TIME THOSE THAT HAVE OPTED IN THAT'S MAJORITY OF THE POPULATION OF MICHIGAN.

SO A STUDY FOUND THAT MOST MICHIGANDERS ARE WITHIN 25 MINUTE DRIVE OF RETAIL POT DISPENSARY.

>> AS THERE BEEN ANY HOOTY DOODY WITH LICENSES?

>> NOT SURE ABOUT THAT, ISSUED SO MANY LICENSES OVER A DECADE, I KNOW SOME CITIES HAVE MORE LICENSED THAN OTHER, DENVER COMES TO MIND, THEY HAVE MORE LICENSES THAN ANYBODY IN THE STATE.

I BELIEVE THEY TYPICALLY HOVER AROUND 800 TO A THOUSAND.

THE LICENSES HAVE BEEN GOING DOWN THOUGH BECAUSE MARIJUANA IS NOT AN EASY BUSINESS TO BE IN, IT'S ALL CASH, RIGHT, YOU CAN'T GET LOANS SO PEOPLE ARE FINDING OUT THIS ISN'T EASY AND SOME OF THEM HAVE BEEN GIVING UP THEIR LICENSES AND BIG OUT OF STATE OPERATORS THAT OPERATE IN SEVERAL STATES HAVE BEEN COMING IN AND TAKING UP THOSE LICENSES.

>> Eric: BIG POT COME TO MICHIGAN, OR?

>> OH, CERTAINLY, AND ACTUALLY WHEN I WAS TOURING SOME OF THE DISPENSARIES THEY WERE SETTING UP TABLES JUST INSIDE SOME OF THESE MULTI-STATE OPERATORS AS THEY'RE CALLED SAYING LIKE HERE'S OUR PRODUCT IT'S A LITTLE BIT BETTER PRICE, IT'S A LITTLE BIT KNOWN OR WHATEVER THE CASE MAY BE JUST LIKE YOU'RE GOING TO SEE AT A LIQUOR STORE WITH BIG BRANDS COMING IN SELLING THEIR STUFF.

>> Mary: SPEAKING OF LIQUOR, WE HAVE A TEST FOR IMPAIRMENT, ONE OF THE CHIEF CONCERNS WE HEAR IN THE STATE AND IN THESE OTHER STATES, NO TEST.

HOW ARE THEY HANDLING IMPAIRMENT ON THE ROAD?

>> YEP, YEP, SO THEY HAVE JUST TRAINED MORE OF THEIR STAFF TO HAVE THIS ADVANCED DRUG RECOGNITION KNOWLEDGE BASICALLY.

I MEAN, YOU HEAR A LOT AT THE STATE CAPITOL ABOUT FUNDING FOR DRUG RECOGNITION EXPERTS.

IN COLORADO THEY'VE ADDED MORE DRUG RECOGNITION EXPERTS BUT THEY MADE A POINT TO TRAIN EVERYBODY THEY CAN AND HAVE EVERYBODY KEYED INTO LOOKING FOR IT ASK AS A RESULT THEY CAUGHT MORE IMPAIRED DRIVERS.

MARIJUANA DUIS HAVE MORE THAN DOUBLED IN COLORADO BUT AGAIN THEY DON'T HAVE A BASELINE FROM BEFORE TO COMPARE IT TO.

THEY'RE LOOKING AT IT MORE NOW, LOOKING FOR IT MORE NOW THAN THEY USED TO AND THEY'RE FINDING MORE.

>> MICHIGAN IS SIMILAR AND THEY HAVE PILOTED THIS SALIVA TEST, RIGHT, WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT WAS AT LEAST IN OUR BILLS FOR POINTS.

LAW ENFORCEMENT EXPERTS SAID THEY DON'T WANT TO RELY ON SOME OF THESE TESTS, THEY REALLY WANT PEOPLE TO BE EXPERTS IN DRUG RECOGNITION, AND SO TRAINING OFFICERS, LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL TO KNOW WHAT IMPAIRMENT LOOKS LIKE IS SO IMPORTANT BECAUSE YOU MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO MEASURE IMPAIRMENT VIA BLOOD TEST.

>> Eric: WE DON'T KNOW THE FINAL BILL OUT OF MINNESOTA BUT ARE YOU CONVINCED THAT THEY'VE TAKEN THE BEST AND THE WORST FROM OTHER STATES, REJECTED THE WORST AND DONE THE BEST POLICY?

TOO EARLY TO NOW?

>> TOO EARLY TO KNOW.

TIME WILL TELL.

WE'LL FIND OUT WHETHER WHAT THEY THINK IS GOOD IS OBJECTIVELY GOOD, WE'LL FIND OUT, YOU KNOW.

>> Mary: WHAT HAS EXPUNGEMENT AND SOME OF THE SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES DRIVING IT IN MINNESOTA IS?

WERE THAT DRIVERS IN EITHER OF THE STATES YOU LOOKED AT?

>> IN MICHIGAN, I'LL START WITH DETROIT THEY PUT A HIATUS ON ALLOWING FOLKS TO OPEN MARIJUANA BUSINESS UNTIL THEY FIGURED OUT THE SOCIAL EQUITY PART AND THEY WERE SUED A NUMBER OF TIMES, IT TOOK AWHILE, EARLIER THIS YEAR THEY WERE OPENING FIRST MARIJUANA BUSINESSES IN DETROIT TO MAKE SURE THEY GOT THIS RIGHT RIGHT.

EVERY STATE THEY'VE TOLD US THEY'RE HAVING A HARD TIME BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS FOR FOLKS.

>> COLORADO IS PLAYING CATCH-UP.

THEY'VE STILL SAID THAT SOCIAL EQUITY WASN'T EVEN REALLY A DISCUSSION BACK THEN SO THEY'RE DOING IT ON THE BACK END WHICH IS A RECOMMENDATION THEY'VE GIVEN MINNESOTA WHICH DO IT NOW WHICH BOTH OF THESE BILLS DO.

BUT, YEAH, THEY DID IT ON THE BACK END AND NOW THEY ARE PLAYING CATCH-UP AND DENVER, THEY HAVE PUT A MORATORIUM ON LICENSES AND GIVEN EXCLUSIVE ACCESS ONLY TO SOCIAL EQUITY APPLICANTS.

SO NO ONE IN DENVER CAN GET ONE OTHER THAN SOCIAL EQUITY.

>> Eric: LET'S GIVE THE WEBSITE OME CLICKS.