Minnesota’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) has received 1,817 applications for 280 cannabis industry licenses, according to data shared by MinnPost. The first licenses will be awarded to social equity applicants, with the agency verifying 2,307 individuals as qualifying, primarily military veterans and people with previous cannabis-related convictions.
The next step involves determining whether the applicants meet the minimum requirements before entering them into the lottery. The timing of the lottery depends on the duration of this review process.
Among the social equity applicants, 39% are military veterans, 29% have prior cannabis convictions, 25% reside in areas disproportionately impacted by cannabis enforcement, 6% have dependents with prior cannabis convictions, and less than 1% are dependents of someone with a prior conviction.
Interestingly, Minnesota’s cannabis law does not include residency requirements, yet just over half (50.4%) of the applicants provided a Minnesota address.
Business applications were predominantly for microbusinesses (32%) and retailers (32%), followed by mezzobusinesses (21%), delivery services (9%), cultivators (3%), manufacturers (3%), transporters (1%), and wholesalers (1%).
The state plans to award a total of 100 microbusiness licenses, 50 testing labs, 38 retailer licenses, 23 mezzobusinesses, 20 licenses each for wholesalers and transporters, 10 for delivery services, and six for manufacturers. In cases where there were fewer applicants than available licenses—such as with testing laboratories, which received just five requests—no lottery will be conducted.
Minnesota is set to launch adult-use cannabis sales next year, marking a significant milestone for the state’s burgeoning cannabis industry.
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