Applications Open For The 1st Minnesota Cannabis Business Licenses Next Month. Here's What You Need To Know.

By Caroline Cummings, CBS Minnesota

June 6, 2024

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Certain Minnesotans — like veterans and people convicted of cannabis possession before it became legal —can apply next month for the first cannabis business licenses designed to give entrepreneurs a headstart so the legal market is ready to launch in 2025.

The Minnesota Legislature this year signed off on a "preapproval" licensing process for the Office of Cannabis Management, allowing regulators to give the green light to some businesses sooner rather than later to plan accordingly — even as the rulemaking process continues.

"We want to create an early-mover advantage in support of successfully standing up the cannabis industry," Charlene Briner, interim director of the cannabis office, said in March about the plan. "We believe in the social equity opportunities that the law creates. We also want to give people a chance to actually start doing some of the pre-work that is involved in standing up a very complicated business."

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