Osseo looks to establish municipal cannabis shop

OSSEO, Minn. (FOX 9) - With just over 2,500 residents, the City of Osseo is known as a quiet, safe suburb, but city council member Mark Schulz wants it to be known for something else.

Schulz hopes his city will become the first in the state to operate its own municipal marijuana store. As it's written, the law allows cities and counties to own and operate municipal cannabis stores with certain restrictions. 

"If we are going to have to have one, I think it's a viable option for the community to be able to have a hands-on, hard stake on how it operates in their community," said Schulz. 

For a small town like Osseo, the potential tax benefits of a city-owned cannabis shop are obvious. Plus, Schulz says their public safety partners would be able to have oversight not possible with a privately owned business.

"There's not really a way for a community to say, 'No, we don't want this type of a store here,'" said Schulz. "If we are going to have to have a store and our public safety department is apprehensive, why not give them a seat at the table?"

Osseo council members have formed a subcommittee that's been tasked with looking into the idea, which would most likely include the creation of a new department and could see the store eventually located within a new city hall building.

Schulz admits there are still a lot of unknowns when it comes to how everything will work, and he looks forward to the legislature defining some of those things for them.

He also acknowledges a new idea like this is something not everyone will agree on.

"I think that there will be people who have very specific objections to it, and I appreciate that. I respect that," said Schulz.