Out-Of-State Applicants Swarm Minnesota’s Early Cannabis License Window

More than half of the early social equity applicants vying to be first in line to receive Minnesota cannabis licenses live in other states.

The Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) received more than 1,800 pre-applications this summer from around the country. Just 802, or 44%, came from Minnesota residents.

State law doesn’t require applicants to live in Minnesota. All social equity applicants who clear an initial review will have equal treatment in the lottery drawing this fall that will determine who wins the license preapprovals, according to the cannabis office.

“We knew we couldn’t keep out-of-state parties out because that has been deemed unconstitutional in other states,” said Carol Moss, a cannabis industry attorney and member of the state Cannabis Advisory Council. “We knew out-of-state people were going to come in, so it didn’t take some of us by surprise.”

Still, there remains an inherent tension between those building a homegrown industry and the expected flood of outsiders all hoping to get a piece of what is expected to be a $1.5 billion market by the end of the decade.

“We were seeing a lot of last-minute deals being made with social equity applicants, and we were trying to make sure there wasn’t anything predatory going on,” Moss said.

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