Minnesota cannabis retailer license lottery to be held next week

The first licensed Minnesota recreation cannabis license

Jacob Schlichter from the Smoking Tree in Albert Lea breaks down what it's like to have the first licensed Minnesota recreation cannabis license.

(FOX 9) - Minnesota entrepreneurs looking to enter the retail recreational marijuana market will have another chance to get a license from the Minnesota’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) next week.

Recreational marijuana licenses in Minnesota

What we know:

On Tuesday, July 22, the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) will hold a license lottery for combined general and social equity cannabis retailer license applicants.

In June, the OCM’s cannabis license lottery provided 249 license lottery winners a path toward opening their own dispensaries, with most being social equity applicants previously harmed by marijuana laws.

The winners joined nearly 400 microbusinesses in the final stages of approval that will still need to fulfill final requirements at their city or county levels, as well as have a final inspection by the OCM before opening.

But a reported 527 applicants were still left empty-handed and will look to secure licenses in the second lottery.

Applicants in the lottery can watch for their license application number to be drawn as part of the live lottery feed.

Fraud allegations cloud MN cannabis licensing

Licensed and legal marijuana sales got pushed back by months Wednesday, leaving a lot of people looking for someone to blame.

Slow burn

Dig deeper:

From turmoil over who will head the agency, to its application site crashing on the eve of its deadline, Minnesota’s recreational cannabis industry has been marred by setbacks since becoming legal in August 2023.

By the time dispensaries officially open for Minnesotans, state officials will have overseen one of the slowest roll-outs in the nation.

While non-tribal entrepreneurs still wait for statewide approval, White Earth Nation announced its tribal-owned, off-reservation retail stores in Moorhead and St. Cloud.