A year after his first pick resigned, Gov. Tim Walz hasn’t named a permanent cannabis director

It’s been one year since Gov. Tim Walz’s first pick to lead the state’s Office of Cannabis Management resigned abruptly amid questions about her past business dealings. The governor hasn’t named a new cannabis director or interviewed any candidates since.

The Office of Cannabis Management is tasked with overseeing the rollout of Minnesota’s recreational marijuana market, which is expected to open next year. Walz’s first choice to lead the office, cannabis entrepreneur Erin DuPree, resigned one day after she was appointed in September 2023 amid reports she sold illegal products at her hemp store.

Charlene Briner, a state government veteran, has been leading the cannabis office on an interim basis for more than a year now, and the work to set up the new industry is well underway. But Briner has indicated she doesn’t want the job long-term: “I am here for a little longer than anybody had planned,” Briner told the Star Tribune in November.

The governor’s office announced in January there would be a second national search for a cannabis director led by the state’s budget office. Minnesota Management and Budget screened 28 applicants as part of that search, a spokesman said, and seven moved on to a second round of interviews conducted by the governor’s office.

Several months later, Walz hasn’t sat down with any candidates for interviews, according to his public schedules. Since early August, the DFL governor has been busy campaigning across the country as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate.

A spokeswoman for the governor told the Minnesota Star Tribune on Sept. 13 that “we have made a choice not to disrupt the work in progress by changing leadership at this time.”

“Under Charlene Briner’s leadership, the Office of Cannabis Management has made significant progress over the last year preparing for and implementing the launch of a cannabis marketplace in Minnesota,” Walz’s spokeswoman Claire Lancaster said in a statement. “This is a critical period of time for the office, and Charlene is best positioned to lead.”

Lancaster declined to answer questions about whether the candidates from the second search are still being considered. Asked if there would be a third search for a director, she said, “We’ll have to evaluate the needs of the office at that time.”

In an interview on Sept. 12, Briner didn’t have any update to share about the cannabis director search: “That’s a question for the governor’s office as the appointing authority,” she said.

In late August, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, Walz’s second-in-command, had signaled that the search for a permanent director was still ongoing.

“Right now, Charlene is doing an incredible job,” Flanagan said during an interview at the State Fair. “We are still in that process. But we want to make sure that we pick the right person.”

Briner said Wednesday that she understands the rationale for keeping current leadership in place. The Office of Cannabis Management is reviewing more than 1,800 applications from social equity applicants who are vying to be first in line for cannabis business licenses. The office will conduct a lottery by the end of the year to determine who wins the license pre-approvals, she said.

“I think we all understand that a change right now could be disruptive at a particularly critical time in our work to launch the market,” Briner said.

That critical time could last well into next year. The cannabis office still has to finalize rules for the industry, which it’s expected to do by early 2025. After that, the office will open the application process for cannabis business licenses to the entire public, which will likely result in thousands more applications flowing in. The office will have to review all the applications and launch more lotteries to determine who gets licenses.

Kurtis Hanna, a longtime cannabis lobbyist in Minnesota, said he doesn’t understand why the state’s second search for a permanent director was seemingly left unfinished. Hanna, a public policy and government relations specialist for the cannabis consulting firm Blunt Strategies, said he thinks entrepreneurs seeking business licenses deserve stable leadership.

“I’m sure that they would prefer to have a leader that they know is going to be sticking around for years on end,” he said.

Jen Randolph Reise, a cannabis attorney with North Star Law Group in St. Paul, sees it differently. While Reise said she’s surprised there still isn’t a permanent director, she thinks Briner and the cannabis office have done a good job laying the groundwork for the new industry.

“I think at this point, a leadership change would be disruptive,” said Reise, who’s assisting clients that are seeking cannabis business licenses. “Any new director that came in is going to want to put their own stamp and vision on the agency.”