5 cannabis law changes being considered by the Minnesota Legislature

Minnesota legislators are considering several changes to the state’s cannabis laws ahead of the anticipated 2025 launch of the recreational marijuana market.

The changes range from limiting the number of retail dispensaries in the state to allowing medical cannabis patients to grow twice as many marijuana plants as other adults.

Here’s a look at five proposals:

Most aspiring cannabis business owners won’t be able to get a license until early next year. But social equity applicants — people who were harmed directly or indirectly by previous criminal enforcement of marijuana laws — could get a temporary business license as early as this summer under a bill that’s supported by the state’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM), which will administer the licenses.

Social equity applicants who are granted a temporary license could do the preliminary work to set up their business, such as securing real estate and obtaining local zoning approval. They could not start operating until the OCM has set rules for the industry, likely early next year.

Regular applicants wouldn’t be able to apply for a license until the rules have been set.

Another change would affect how licenses are awarded. Minnesota’s marijuana law currently uses a points-based scoring system to determine who gets licenses, but regulators want to change it to a random lottery for qualified applicants.

Regulators are asking the Legislature to limit the number of cannabis business licenses that can be issued in the market’s first two years. Charlene Briner, interim OCM director, said at a recent news conference that such limits would help regulators evaluate market demand.

The cannabis office could issue no more than 200 retailer licenses, 50 grower licenses, 44 “mezzobusiness” licenses and 24 manufacturer licenses, according to the bill backed by the OCM. Half of those licenses would be reserved for social equity applicants with the other half available to everyone else.

Cannabis mezzobusinesses are allowed to grow up to 15,000 square feet of cannabis, as well as manufacture and sell cannabis products.

The bill does not cap “microbusiness” licenses. Microbusinesses can grow up to 5,000 square feet, manufacture and sell cannabis products at a single location. They also may allow on-site consumption and live entertainment.

Minnesota’s recreational marijuana law allows adults 21 and older to grow up to eight cannabis plants at home. A bill sponsored by DFL Rep. Jess Hanson would allow patients enrolled in the state’s medical cannabis program to grow up to 16 plants at their private residence.

Medical cannabis patients who need help growing could designate a caregiver to cultivate the plants on their behalf. Caregivers would be required to register with the state and undergo a criminal background check every two years.

A person could not be a registered caregiver “for more than six registered patients at one time,” according to Hanson’s bill.

“For each patient household that the registered designated caregiver is approved to assist with obtaining medical cannabis flower, the registered designated caregiver may grow up to 16 cannabis plants,” the bill states.

That means a single caregiver who grows cannabis for six patients could cultivate up to 96 plants.

Another bill sponsored by Hanson would create a pilot project allowing the state’s licensed medical cannabis manufacturers to wholesale their products to tribal nations for resale.

Tribal cannabis dispensaries could resell the manufacturers’ products until March 2025, according to the bill.

Tribes in Minnesota have sovereignty over their cannabis laws and thus have been first movers in the state’s nascent recreational marijuana market. The Red Lake and White Earth Ojibwe bands opened recreational dispensaries on tribal lands last year, and the Prairie Island Indian Community is planning to open one this summer near Treasure Island Casino in Goodhue County.

Lawmakers are seeking to give the Office of Cannabis Management regulatory authority over the retail hemp market starting this summer. Under existing law, the office won’t oversee the hemp-derived cannabis market until 2025.

The state Health Department currently has the authority to inspect hemp-derived cannabis products and businesses to ensure they comply with dosage limits, testing requirements and labeling laws.

The OCM recently announced it’s working with the Health Department to crack down on retailers who’ve been selling illegal cannabis flower under the label of less-potent hemp.

Star Tribune staff writer Matt DeLong contributed to this story.