Minnesota Could Be a Great Cannabis State

We have been following Minnesota’s progress on cannabis legalization for a while here at the law firm. It’s a state with huge potential, and reports from our attorneys at CannaCon last weekend were glowing. As a native Minnesotan (Duluth; Moorhead) who frequently returns to the state, I’m personally rooting hard.

There is a lot to like about Minnesota and cannabis. One, it’s sort of an island. To the west are North and South Dakota, which are virtual cannabis backwaters. The same could be said for Iowa to the south, and Wisconsin (so sad!) due east. Second, Minnesota is a populous state, with more than 5.7 million inhabitants. Third, Minnesota is an agriculture state, and the 12^th largest state by area. Fourth, it’s reliably blue.

But fifth, if you ask me what I like best about Minnesota’s cannabis environment so far, it’s this: the state seems keen on avoiding overregulation of cannabis. You can see it in the first draft of rules released by the Office of Cannabis Management (“OCM”) on July 31, 2024. If you’d rather not read all of that, or even take my word for it, OCM itself has said as much. In that Office’s words, the proposed rules:

“reflect a desire to construct a regulatory environment that (1) focuses on outcomes and affords regulated entities the autonomy to choose the best path to compliance, (2) is designed to be scalable with the Minnesota system of microbusiness licenses, mezzobusiness licenses, and activity-specific licenses, and (3) where possible, minimizes regulatory duplication by relying on existing state regulation.”

Let’s go!

I’ve written plenty on this blog about what states should be doing as they roll out cannabis programs. See: Ten Recommendations for State Cannabis Regulation. Generally speaking, Minnesota is doing a good job adhering to the model. (I plan to do a deeper dive on the draft rules themselves in weeks to come). But if things go as advertised, cannabis in Minnesota will be regulated more rationally, and less oppressively, than what we are seeing in any other state.

Anyone visiting Minnesota for the past couple of years will have noticed this milieu taking shape. Local shoppers have been able to walk into grocery stores and buy hemp-THC beverages for a couple of years now. Hell, you can even get these beverages on tap at this point, in certain bars, restaurants, and breweries. Once adult-use cannabis businesses are licensed, buying weed in Minnesota should resemble purchasing alcohol at a bottle shop, more than anything.

It’s also worth mentioning that Minnesota Statute Chapter 342, the law underpinning the Minnesota cannabis program, as amended and signed by Tim Walz on May 24, 2024, is clear that home cultivation of cannabis is allowed in Minnesota today. No one has to wait for a OCM rules to drop. Meanwhile, the hemp regime is being wisely folded into the structure, and the medical cannabis program (around since 2015) is still in place.

Here at the law firm, we are actively working with Minnesota social equity applicants and potential licensees, and we will continue to track this space as the draft rules evolve. The next “deadline” is the close of the comment period on those draft rules, which is August 30 (next Friday). Later this year, OCM will publish a notice of intent to adopt revised rules in the State Register, with final rules targeted for spring 2025.

Until then, keep your eyes on Minnesota cannabis. I am.