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www.publichealthlawcenter.org 5Lower-Potency Hemp Edibles & Cannabis: Minnesota City Retailers <br />In some instances, blanks (such as [ ____ ]) prompt you to customize the language to fit your <br />community’s needs. In other instances, the ordinance offers you a choice of options (such as <br />[ choice one/choice two ]). Some options are followed by a comment that describes the legal <br />provisions in more detail. A degree of customization is always necessary to make sure the <br />ordinance is consistent with a community’s existing laws. Such customization also ensures that <br />communities are using this model ordinance to address local needs and engender health equity. <br />Immigration Impacts of Cannabis and Lower-Potency Hemp Edibles Use or Sale <br />Federal law still prohibits and criminalizes the sale, use, possession, or growing of cannabis, <br />despite Minnesota’s decriminalization and legalization. As such, anyone who is not a U.S. <br />citizen and who possesses, uses, sells, grows, or interacts in any way with cannabis or works in <br />the cannabis industry may face severe immigration consequences, including the loss of legal <br />permanent residency or other immigration status, or their removal or deportation from the <br />United States. (8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2); 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(B)(1); 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(1)) According to <br />the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, even lower-potency hemp edibles may trigger some <br />immigration consequences. <br />Unfortunately, most non-citizens are not aware of these risks, particularly in states that have <br />decriminalized or legalized cannabis. Prior to issuing a registration, state and local governments <br />are encouraged to alert registrants, registration applicants, and their employees that there are <br />immigration risks for non-citizens who interact with cannabis or the cannabis industry and that <br />these risks exist regardless of any local or state license or registration. Registrants who employ <br />or contract with non-citizens for any task related to their cannabis business may put those <br />non-citizen employees and their family members at risk of losing their legal status or facing <br />deportation from the United States. This is the case even for those non-citizens who work with <br />employment authorization granted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. <br />The Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota provides background information that could be <br />incorporated into an information notice to be disseminated by the local offices that process <br />cannabis retail establishment registrations. The information is available in several languages. <br />Please contact the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota for further information. <br />For an example of such an information notice from the State of California, see Non-U.S. Citizen <br />Referral Process and Possible Legal Consequences when Working in the Cannabis Industry. <br />September 2024