USA: Recreational marijuana use motivated many to vote 3:22

(CNN) -- Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota signed a bill Tuesday legalizing the recreational use of marijuana in the state.

With Walz's signature, Minnesota becomes the 23rd state in the country to legalize adult-use cannabis use and the third Midwestern state to do so.

"What we know right now is that prohibition doesn't work. We have criminalized a lot of people and we are going to start the process of erasing those records. We have a situation where buying cannabis on the streets is dangerous," Walz said at a signing ceremony on Tuesday, adding that adults should be able to make their own decisions "around these kinds of alternatives."

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Minnesota's Democratic-led House and Senate passed the bill earlier this month with bipartisan support, after months of review following its introduction in January.

Under the measure, Minnesotans 21 and older will be able to possess up to two ounces (56 grams) of marijuana flowers in public and two pounds (907 grams) in their homes starting Aug. 1. It also gives people with marijuana convictions the opportunity to automatically expel their records by making low-level convictions disappear and establishing a review board to determine eligibility in higher-level felony cases.

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In addition, the legislation calls for the opening of an Office of Cannabis Management, which will oversee the regulation and sale of cannabis products in the state.

"This bill creates a safe and well-regulated legal market and includes best practices for consumer protection, public health and safety. It also prioritizes a robust expungement program, so that people who have been disproportionately affected by our current cannabis laws can get on with their lives. It's legalization time and I'm proud to move this bill forward," Democratic state Rep. Zack Stephenson, the bill's sponsor, said in a press release ahead of final passage.

While Stephenson said regulatory and expungement efforts would begin once the law goes into effect, he emphasized on Twitter that the changes wouldn't happen overnight. He doesn't expect licensed dispensaries to be in place for another 18 months, noting that the removal of the "tens of thousands" of past cannabis convictions could take years to complete.

The marijuana legalization joins a number of other progressive measures Walz recently authorized, including legislation restoring voting rights to thousands of convicted felons and a measure codifying abortion rights in state law.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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