Minnesota became the 23rd state to legalize recreational marijuana on Tuesday afternoon, leaving two emerging statewide parties dedicated to cannabis legalization looking at what comes next for their political futures.
Minnesota has two active statewide political parties organized around opposing marijuana prohibition. They are the Legal Marijuana Now Party, which formed in 1998, and the Grassroots—Legalize Cannabis Party, which began as an off-shoot from earlier Grassroots supporters who joined the Legal Marijuana Now Party in a 2014 merger. It’s worth noting that both of these organizations share a common ancestor in the original 1986 Grassroots Party.
Both parties have been a fixture in Minnesotan politics for years, frequently contesting all levels of government each election cycle. In 2018, both the Legal Marijuana Now Party and the Grassroots—Legalize Cannabis Party secured major party recognition after earning over 5% in the races for State Auditor and Attorney General, respectively. The Grassroots—Legalize Cannabis Party did lose major party status at the end of 2022; however, it has minor party status until 2026.
But with the legalization of recreational marijuana, what are such single-issue parties left to do?
“Now, as with many other political parties in the past, it evolves. It becomes something more than just the original goal. That’s the phase that we’re in now as a political party,” said Legal Marijuana Now Party Chair Kevin O’Connor in an interview with the Minnesota Post. “We want to attract good, strong, independent candidates who believe in limited government,” he would add.
To that end, the party will also consider changing its name to something to reflect its new mission and more appealing to independents; however, what that name will be has yet to be announced.
The Legal Marijuana Now Party has made previous efforts to expand beyond Minnesotan politics. For example, the party began operating in neighboring Nebraska in 2010, where it still fields candidates. In 2022, the Nebraska affiliate of the party earned 19.3% of the total vote in the race for State Auditor, with its candidate placing between the Republican and Libertarian.
Alternatively, the Grassroots—Legalize Cannabis Party wrote in a press release several weeks before Governor Tim Walz signed the bill that it felt it did not go far enough and would continue to fight against what they view as “Prohibition Lite” both in Minnesota and nationally.
“The right to enjoy legal cannabis won’t include 18-, 19-, and 20-year-old adults–thus continuing to criminalize college students (renowned ganja smokers) and therefore guaranteeing that an illicit traffic in cannabis will continue,” the Grassroots—Legalize Cannabis Party states. “The bill requires licenses for selling the products of farms and gardens, directly violating Article 13, Section 7, of the Minnesota State Constitution. In fact, the bill sets up a ridiculous bureaucracy with an absurd web of over a dozen required licenses for various aspects of the production, sale, and distribution of cannabis and cannabis derived products.”
“The Grassroots Party should continue to serve a constructive political purpose–striving to truly restore justice, to revive the spirit of freedom and liberty, to unify our people and heal our planet, and to re-establish our Constitutionally-protected Farm and Garden Rights.”
The future will also come with new challenges for both organizations on top of the changing political landscape for their most important policy position.
Maintaining major party status in the future will become much more difficult with the recent passage of a lengthy omnibus bill that will increase the threshold parties must meet to achieve major party recognition. Prior to this change, political parties in Minnesota needed only a single statewide candidate to earn 5% of the vote to be recognized as a major party under state law. However, HF 1830, a state government finance bill recently passed in both chambers and signed, will see that candidates must surpass 8% of the total vote to earn their party major status.
With thanks to Richard Winger for clarifications surrounding HF 1830. 6/1/2023.
HF 1830 was signed a week ago, sadly.
Prohibition Party reliably took between 1% to 2.25% presidentially for 30+ years. When actual prohibition in 1921 occurred the party’s votes effectively died. Their presidential candidate in 1924 Herman Faris got 0.19%.
I’ve always had a pet theory of mine comparing the popularity of the Prohibition Party to the fact women could not vote when women were heavily more pro-temperance than men were. An early plank of the Prohibition Party was they were for suffrage (They like all minor parties had arguments about whether they stood just for prohibition or for other things. “Just for prohibition” won out in 1896 and coincided with the worst post-1884, pre-1920 presidential vote they ever had, Joshua Levering getting 0.94%.) If women’s suffrage had come earlier, I wonder if we get prohibition earlier due to the higher vote share the Prohibition Party would’ve gotten, and all the effects on history that would have.