The use of recreational marijuana was legalized in Minnesota three months ago and took effect last week. But what went largely overlooked during debates over the new law was the reparations the state would pay to communities.

The “CanRenew” grant program in the new cannabis law will take effect at the start of the 2026 fiscal year. It will pour $15 million annually into “eligible organizations” in areas with high concentrations of people convicted for marijuana crimes when the drug was still illegal. The handouts will be given to schools, non-profits, private businesses and local governments to boost economic growth. Republican Rep. Nolan West called the program “a way to funnel money to [Democrat] districts.”

The senator who sponsored the bill, Lindsey Port, said:

This is a form of reparation. Direct harm has been done to communities by prohibition and by the state, and it is our responsibility to undo that harm. … It should have the same kind of lasting effects that, unfortunately, the war on drugs has had on communities of color.

Minnesota will automatically expunge over 66,000 marijuana-related records.

Moral decline: The economic principle of supply and demand tells us that the areas with the highest population of drug users are also the areas with the highest population of drug dealers. The government is sending the dangerous message that it is not only OK to break the law, but that it will apologize to and repay the criminals for ever convicting them.

The moral decline in America is leading to its destruction. The only way to turn this terrifying trend around is for the nation to repent and remember its history with God.

Learn more: Read our article “Why the Trumpet Watches Moral Decline in Britain and America.”