No one can claim that DFL sponsors have rushed through a measure to legalize marijuana without discussion. The bill cleared it’s ninth House committee Tuesday, and the multicommittee path has been considerably longer than the ones other bills travel.

“A bill that has had to make it through this many committee stops? I can’t think of one,” said DFL House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler, who is guiding the legalization bill on its long journey.

Winkler plans to have the full House vote on the bill next month, a step which has never before taken place for this issue. Yet opposition in the Republican-controlled Senate has prevented the bill from getting any traction in there. Still, Winkler said he believes momentum is building for legal marijuana and that his bill will ultimately earn bipartisan support.

“We are harming people through our prohibition of cannabis, and it is not a legitimate use of the criminal justice system to do that when large majorities of the public think it should be a safe, legal product,” he said.