Nearly two years after Minnesota legalized marijuana for adult-use cannabis, the state Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) on Thursday held the first lotteries to begin the process of awarding hundreds of cannabis business licenses to qualified applicants. The drawings marked a long-awaited milestone on Minnesota's bumpy road to launching a legal marijuana market.
The OCM initially planned to hold lotteries for social equity licenses in late November. But the agency abandoned those contests after a Ramsey County judge delayed them in response to lawsuits from several applicants alleging they were unfairly denied entry.
"This is an exciting day for business owners preparing to establish themselves in the state's new adult-use cannabis market," OCM Interim Director Eric Taubel said in a statement. "We're setting a strong foundation for an equitable and safe adult-use cannabis market that will mature over the next few years."
A total of 776 qualified applicants were in the running for 249 licenses Thursday. The first batch of lotteries, livestreamed with little pomp on YouTube, were set aside for social equity applicants seeking license types capped in number by law, including cultivator, manufacturer, retailer and mezzobusiness – which would allow the holder to grow, process and sell cannabis products on a relatively limited scale.
Read more at The Minnesotta Star Tribune