Minnesota cannabis regulators will not be asking for law changes to allow some cannabis cultivators to plant early as a way to have some cannabis products ready to sell when retail stores open sometime in early spring of 2025.
That doesn't mean that the hope to get cannabis seeds in the ground this fall, rather than next spring, are dashed. There is a move by the Senate sponsor of modifications to last year's House File 100 to greenlight earlier growing of cannabis in the state.
The decision by interim Office of Cannabis Manager Director Charlene Briner not to offer new bill language on early production came after the agency heard concerns that waiting until 2025 to issue all licenses — both for growers and retailers — would further delay legal sales in Minnesota. Only early cultivation would prevent the rollout from featuring open doors to empty stores, backers of that change argue.
Briner said she met with various groups involved in the fledgling industry but said there was no consensus on how to solve the problem. OCM told stakeholders and legislators that it couldn't devise a way to allow some early planting and harvesting that treated all potential growers equally.
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