MINNEAPOLIS — On Tuesday, the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management announced applications for cannabis business licenses will be accepted beginning Feb. 18 and ending March 14.
It’s been two year since legal cannabis passed the Minnesota legislature. Late last year, several lawsuits also forced a judge to halt the Minnesota cannabis business license lottery.
“Prospective business owners are eager to get started, and applying for a license sets them on a path to launching their business,” said Eric Taubel, OCM interim director. “Getting licenses out the door and into the hands of qualified applicants is our priority as we approach the launch of Minnesota’s adult-use cannabis industry.”
During this cycle, OCM says it will accept applications from verified social equity applications and from an applicant seeking to participate in general licensing in the following license types: microbusiness, mezzobusiness, cultivator, manufacturer, retailer, wholesaler, transporter, testing facility, delivery service and medical cannabis combination business.
For the four license types that are capped in state statute (cultivator, mezzobusiness, manufacturer and retailer), OCM says half of the available licenses are reserved for verified social equity applicants and half are available to all applicants. Qualified applicants will have to go through a series of lottery drawings. Lotteries for each license type will be conducted in two parts. The first part will be limited to only verified social equity applicants. If not selected, qualified social equity verified applicants will be entered into the second part — open to all applicants — for the remaining licenses available.
The exact timing of the lotteries will depend on the volume of applications for the available license types. OCM anticipates starting lotteries in the May-June timeframe.
Uncapped license types include microbusiness, wholesaler, transporter, testing facility, delivery service, and medical cannabis combination business. Applications for these license types will be reviewed on a rolling basis and because they do not involve a lottery, applicants will be able to begin their final steps to obtaining a license as soon as they are deemed qualified.
After completing the necessary requirements, the approved applicants could receive licenses this spring.
For applicants who were previously denied and opted to continue to the next licensing cycle, OCM says it will send a request for more information. Applicants will then have an opportunity to correct a number of errors in their applications.
According to OCM, applications for cannabis event organizer licenses will be accepted later this summer.
Meanwhile, applications for lower-potency hemp edible manufacturer licenses and lower-potency hemp edible retailer licenses will be accepted in the fall.
Additional information and technical resources for applicants will be available beginning Feb. 14 online.
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