Officials with the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) say the launch of the state’s adult-use cannabis industry was delayed at least several months after officials were forced to postpone — and ultimately decided to abandon — an early licensing lottery for social equity applicants, the Minnesota Star Tribune reports.
The social equity lottery was designed to pre-approve entrepreneurs so they could pursue investment, real estate, and zoning approval ahead of the market’s 2025 launch. The process, however, was delayed last month due to lawsuits filed by applicants who said they had been unfairly denied, which prompted a judge’s order to stay the lottery.
Now, officials have announced the state is abandoning the early licensing process entirely, the report said, and will instead open general cannabis license applications in mid-February, with separate lotteries planned in May or June for both social equity applicants and general applicants.
“This was certainly not an outcome that we were hoping would materialize, and we know that today’s path forward does not provide a perfect solution,” interim OCM director Charlene Briner said in the report.
“A protracted period of uncertainty is an unacceptable outcome that could diminish the opportunity for social equity applicants to succeed in this market, and it also jeopardizes the Office of Cannabis Management’s stated goal of launching the market in 2025. We remain committed to ensuring that qualified applicants have a clear path forward and are given consideration in the next licensing cycle.” — Briner, via the Star Tribune
Briner said the 648 applicants who were originally accepted into the preapproval lottery will automatically move to the next steps in the licensing process with no additional fees.
Minnesota lawmakers passed the state’s cannabis legalization law in 2023 and officials estimated earlier this year the adult-use market would launch in early 2025.
The early lottery would have granted license preapproval to a select number of aspiring cannabis entrepreneurs, giving them the certainty needed to line up investment, commercial real estate and local zoning approval ahead of next year’s market launch. Preapproved cultivators would have been allowed to start growing cannabis now, helping build a supply chain before retailers open.
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