When Gov. Tim Walz signed a bill to end the cannabis prohibition in Minnesota and make the state the 23rd in the U.S. to legalize recreational marijuana, it raised eyebrows in every city in the state, including Tracy.

At the most recent Tracy City Council meeting, Lyon County Sheriff’s Deputy Tony Rolling urged the council to give some serious thought to how Tracy will handle the situation.

Rolling shared with the council a story of a recent vacation he and his family took in Michigan. He described an idyllic setting, with the sun shining and a slight breeze blowing as sail boats glided on water through a marina.

“Somebody started smoking marijuana … so we left,” said Rolling. “We didn’t want to be there because it smelled so bad … we ended up going back to the motel. Almost every street corner in the town has a dispensary for marijuana — it just brought the city down, I thought.”

See more in this week’s paper!