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The Office of Cannabis Management announcing they will not move forward with a social equity lottery.
This comes after a Ramsey County Judge shut down the lottery last month. Those previous applicants will now automatically be moved forward in the standard licensing cycle.
Office Interim director Charlene Briner says much of the frustration around the lottery came from a perceived lack of fairness in the pre-approval process, and in the future general application round applicants who are denied will have a chance to give the office more information.
“They will have an opportunity to correct a broader range of issues in their applications and will also have the opportunity for reconsideration which was not available to them in the pre approval process,” Briner says.
She adds that they hope to start accepting general applications in February.
“Those 648 applicants who are deemed qualified in pre-approval will automatically be moved forward to in the standard licensing cycle,” Briner explained. “They will have no additional application fee and they will not be required to resubmit an application.”
She says it’s the first step in an already long process for prospective business owners, and that the office hopes to open the license application process again to the general public in mid-February, with a possible new lottery to be held next summer.
With these changes in place, she believes the market in Minnesota is still on track to be up and running sometime in 2025.
The license lottery for social equity applicants was meant to give certain groups such as veterans, residents of high-poverty areas and people negatively affected by cannabis prohibition a head start in the new industry. A 2024 law established the license preapproval process emphasizing a rigorous review and operational readiness to ensure that social equity applicants were market-ready.
“}]] The Office of Cannabis Management announcing they will not move forward with a social equity lottery. A Ramsey County Judge shut down the lottery last month. Previous applicants will now automatically be moved forward in the standard licensing cycle. Read More
