Minnesota's second lottery for cannabis retailers in the state was held Tuesday afternoon. Hosted by the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management (OCM), the lottery picked 75 retailers from a pool of 569 to receive a license. The lottery was the second to feature retail cannabis selections, rounding out what will be the state's initial pool of 150 retailers statewide.
The first lottery, held last month, was dedicated solely to social equity applicants — applicants that include veterans, those with past cannabis-related offenses, and those from underserved communities, among others.
"The legislative intent was to commit to advancing social equity by promoting stability and safety and investing in the development of the communities that were harmed by cannabis prohibition," said Eric Taubel, Interim Director of OCM.
Any of the social equity applicants who did not receive a license in the first lottery were automatically entered into the pool for the second. Tuesday's lottery signals the final stretch for a long road toward getting Minnesota's legal cannabis market off the ground. In May of this year, the state marked two years since the passage of HF 100, the bill that legalized cannabis for adult-use use in the state.
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