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Hopeful marijuana retailers worried Minnesota won’t license until 2026

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Published  October 8, 2024 5:21pm CDT
Cannabis
FOX 9

Marijuana dispensary licenses seeing delays

A backlog in verifying social equity applications for retail recreational marijuana sales has created a delay in dispensaries opening throughout the state until potentially 2026.

The Brief

    • Hopeful Minnesota marijuana retailers are expecting the licensing process to push their business openings to later in 2025, or even 2026.
    • Office of Cannabis Management officials say they're reviewing the first applications for 282 social equity licenses to make sure ownership is as it's supposed to be, and expect a first lottery sometime this year.
    • On that timeline, Minnesota is on pace to be one of the slowest states to go from legalization to licensed retail sales.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Minnesota’s marijuana marketplace is moving so slowly, a lot of hopeful retailers don’t expect to get to business until 2026.

They’re seeing the timeline move further away as the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) sorts through its first round of license applications.

High aspirations, low expectations

Dirt covers the ground where Shawn Weber wishes he could be growing marijuana.

He’s a Vikings fan, so he says he lives with high aspirations and low expectations, and that applies to his hopes for cannabis licensing.

"Everybody that is either interested or in the industry, we're in a hurry up and wait situation," Weber, who owns Crested River Cannabis in Morgan, Minnesota, told FOX 9.

Legal cannabis longer than expected 

Legislators didn’t expect to wait this long between legalization and licensing when they introduced the bill in January 2023. 

"I think it would be a matter of months not years before you would be able to be in a legal marketplace," said one of the authors, Rep. Zack Stephenson, (DFL-Coon Rapids).

Nor four months later, when the governor signed the bill.

"That will probably take 12–18 months," Rep. Stephenson said of propping up the Office of Cannabis Management and preparing for retail licensing - that was now 17 months ago.

What's taking so long?

Since this August, the Office of Cannabis Management has been reviewing more than 1800 social equity business applications.

What seems to be slowing the process is confirming the applicants are the real owners of the business and not just a face propped up by an out-of-state corporation.

"They're trying to figure out how they can make sure that these people aren't getting more than one license and all this stuff," said Rep. Nolan West, (R-Blaine). "That's just a waste of time."

Rep. West supported legalization, but says people can transfer licenses so easily this review is almost meaningless.

Current timeline

"We continue to be on track to hold a lottery before the end of this year and will not sacrifice a thorough review for expediency," said OCM spokesperson Jim Walker in a statement to FOX 9.

In their best-case scenario, the lottery for pre-approval of the first 282 licenses would happen at the 19-month mark.

Actual licensing can’t happen until general applications are sorted, and a second lottery is held.

OCM interim director Charlene Briner has said it’ll happen by March – 22 months after legalization.

Several applicants are telling FOX 9 they're skeptical it’ll happen before 2026.

‘Remain patient’

Weber’s still hoping for the best and prepared for the worst.

"They're doing their due diligence," he said. "It's never going to be fast enough for us. But, you know, just remain patient."

Minnesota is on pace to be the fifth slowest of 23 states to go from legalization to legal sales.

In fact, Ohio legalized it six months after Minnesota and already started retail sales.