Slowly but surely, Minnesota is making progress with rolling out recreational marijuana, and a new bill expected to be signed by Governor Tim Walz will take the process one step closer to reality.

Minnesota lawmakers just passed and sent a 192-page judiciary and public safety bill to the governor. Among the changes: a major shift in how law enforcement and prosecutors can use bong water when charging someone with a crime.

Believe it or not, Minnesota and bong water have a very storied legal history. Back in 2009, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that possessing more than 4 ounces of bong water would be treated the same as possessing the pure form of the drug used in the bong.

That meant being caught with used bong water could lead to a prison sentence of up to 30 years and a fine of up to $1 million.

This new bill changes that. It redefines "mixture" to exclude "the fluid used in a water pipe or any amount of a controlled substance that is dissolved in the pipe's fluid."

Alicia Granse, an attorney with the ACLU of Minnesota, told the Star Tribune, "Water is heavy. Prosecutors were able to treat the water as pure drugs because it was in a bong."

In addition to the judiciary bill, lawmakers passed the cannabis omnibus bill, which revises the original recreational marijuana legislation signed into law in 2023. The new bill addresses lingering questions and concerns raised since the original rollout.

One major update: the state tax on cannabis products will increase from the originally proposed 10% to 15%. For comparison, Michigan charges a 6% sales tax plus a 10% excise tax, making Minnesota's rate fairly standard among nearby states.

The next step in Minnesota's cannabis rollout is the opening of retail dispensaries. While many are still waiting for licenses and construction, some dispensaries have already opened on Tribal land across the state.