Looking forward to harvest season

North Star Cannabis Consulting Newsletter

Jen Reise
August 07, 2025

I'll be missing St. Paul’s big CannaCon this weekend due to a family reunion out of state - congrats to the many people in my network who are speaking, tabling, and/or coming to MN for it (welcome!). I’ll be thinking of you all while being Aunt Jen!

My advice? Don't miss the CannaConnect Afterparty on Saturday.

This is such an exciting moment, with the Minnesota market just about to open. It’s like seeing my butternut squash set up adorable babies. I can’t wait for harvest - but you can’t rush it, either.

Jen Randolph Reise (photo by Angela Knox)

MN CANNABIS NEWS

Legacy Cannabis says they will be opening in Duluth very soon, selling flower grown by the White Earth Nation.

Jen’s take: What a cool example of our market being led by small business social equity applicants and the tribes! Legacy Cannabis’ owners are good people who have been working to legalize and open in Minnesota’s adult-use industry a long time, with Legacy Glass in Duluth and Minneapolis, the Legacy Cup (plan to go celebrate on Sept. 27!) and in Minnesota’s strong hemp-THC beverage market as well. And the compact between the White Earth tribe and the State of Minnesota creates a regulatory framework for the tribes to supply the adult-use market until the cultivators just starting to be licensed by OCM can get stood up. Minnesota is making history!

And on the other hand -

The Albert Lea City Council, by a 4-3 vote, rejected a social equity applicant at the final step on July 28, first citing frustration with limited local control and concerns about cannabis legalization overall. A week later, the city council added that they also had concerns about the applicant's criminal history, after an article brought that to light.

Jen’s Take: I agree with Albert Lea’s city attorney (!) that Albert Lea’s initial decision was in contravention of the state law around municipalities’ limited role, inviting a lawsuit (see my comments below under the CLE discussion for more on the broader topic). I don’t know what will happen next in Albert Lea. There are two other license holders, some of the very first retailer endorsements in the state, that have also been fully approved by OCM within its borders.

Meanwhile, other social equity microbusinesses are moving forward across the state, working with cities and counties to navigate zoning and setback restrictions and build out space in accordance with local fire codes, etc. This MinnPost article profiles several more that are close to opening.

The Minnesota Star Tribune has released a map showing where you can buy cannabis in Minnesota: for now, it has the tribal dispensaries (which are open to the public) (pictured as leaves below) and our medical dispensaries (for which you need to be enrolled in MN’s medical cannabis program) (pictured as red crosses below).

Hemp-Derived THC Corner

Great news: the threat of a national ban on intoxicating hemp seems to have passed, for now. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) fought to get the ban removed from the U.S. Senate version of the Farm Bill, reports Marijuana Moment.

Texas continues to debate banning intoxicating hemp in the special session now ongoing. Jen’s Take: Texas’ special session may not get anything done, because of this. Let’s hope!

Retailers, manufacturers, and wholesalers of hemp-derived THC will need to submit licensure paperwork in October to continue to be part of the Minnesota hemp THC market. North Star Cannabis Consulting is planning a service to help market participants outsource this to us. Stay tuned for more details!

3rd Annual Minnesota Cannabis Law CLE

Jen Reise, founder and principal of North Star Cannabis Consulting

Interim MN-OCM Director Eric Taubel speaking about equity

Jen with Minnesota cannabis lawyers Carol Moss (Hellmuth & Johnson) and Jason Tarasek (Vicente), and Reps. Nolan West (R) and Jess Hanson (D), and other person I do not remember (email me if you know, and I’ll fix this)

Municipalities’ Power to Limit Cannabis Businesses

Albert Lea's initial denial was roundly criticized at last week's Minnesota Cannabis Law CLE, a gathering of the top lawyers, regulators, and policymakers on both sides of the aisle in MN, as an overreach of what cities are allowed to do to regulate cannabis businesses under state statute. It was hailed as a new low, but not a brand new effort, by cities to back-door ban cannabis in their borders.

That’s in spite of state law. When our state legalized adult-use cannabis in 2023, legislators deliberately chose not to allow complete municipal opt-outs—a lesson learned from Colorado and others’ early failures. In those states, local opt-outs created "cannabis deserts" where rural residents had to drive hours to access legal products, fueling continued black market activity. Minnesota's statutory compromise gives cities meaningful but limited authority: establishing zoning requirements, setting reasonable setbacks from schools, and determining the number of retailers (with a minimum floor based on population).

The good news is that it was clear that OCM is concerned about municipalities throwing up creative roadblocks for compliant entrepreneurs in this industry. The bad news? They don’t regulate cities’ compliance with state law in this area. The denied applicant would have to bring a lawsuit to enforce the municipality’s deviations from the statute - or credibly threaten to.

Clem Dabney (aka Doc Dabs) wrote about this issue very compellingly in yesterday’s Star Tribune: here’s a gift link.

MN-OCM NEWS

OCM continues to make progress at reviewing Final Plans of Record and carrying out final inspections. Here's the updated application numbers from OCM:

Ten microbusinesses have received their license, up from five micros two weeks ago. [Hey OCM - it would be cool to see the approved micros by endorsement!]
Roughly 200 microbusinesses moved from Qualified Applicants to Preliminarily Approved in the last two weeks.
Other license types also moved forward.
Except that we are still stuck at 9 testing labs preliminarily approved, and zero actually licensed: which could be a real problem.

Truncated; available at https://mn.gov/ocm/businesses/licensing/application-data.jsp

This December will be my fourth year attending the cannabis industry’s biggest conference, MJBizCon, and for the first time I’ll be taking the stage!

I’ll be joining an incredible panel to talk about Minnesota’s cannabis landscape:

Jason Tarasek, cannabis attorney at national cannabis law firm Vicente and part of the tribal negotiations
Fatima Moore, powerhouse policy leader and head of SotaCANN
and ME, bringing the voice of our entrepreneurial ecosystem

Thinking about joining me in Las Vegas? We’ve had a great Minnesota presence out there each of the past several years! I’ll look for coupon codes to share here, or hit me up.

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OTHER CANNABIS NEWS

Around the U.S.

A study found that marijuana industry workers are the happiest in any job sector in the U.S.

Michigan: Michigan is poised to overtake California as the new epicenter of the marijuana market, reports Green State

Confidential Industry Classifieds

NEW: Opportunities to buy a license in Minnesota, said to include wholesaler, transporter, delivery, retail, processing, micro, and mezzo, as well as a turnkey branded retail, and a microlicense and turnkey grow with property.
Jen’s take: Buyer beware! The transfer and sale of licenses in Minnesota is complex and very limited by statute. Don’t buy or sell without competent counsel!
Micro with location in St. Paul seeks to hire a General Manager to complete the regulatory steps to open, and run the store.
Existing tobacco store in St. Paul is interested in sub-leasing all of its space to a retail business.
Other retail space opportunities are being offered up by real estate investors for assignment or purchase. Locations around the state.