A New Government-Run Marijuana Store Just Opened In Minnesota

The first government-run marijuana retailer in Minnesota has officially
opened its doors, marking another milestone in the state’s adult-use
cannabis program.

The city of Anoka announced last week that it had completed constructions
of the facility. Now the shop is operational, with a “historic” soft launch
on Thursday, Mayor Erik Skogquist said.

“Our residents want safe, vibrant and well maintained communities, while
keeping taxes as low as practicable,” he said. “The Anoka Cannabis Company
allows the city of Anoka to do just that.”

While lawmakers outside of Minnesota have previously floated proposals to
have state-run dispensaries, that’s been met with resistance in states like
Pennsylvania. But Anoka sees a unique opportunity to demonstrate how
municipal government can leverage legalization in a way that more directly
benefits local residents and initiatives.

Kevin Morelli, city manager of liquor and cannabis operations, said the
retailer is sourcing its cannabis from the Prairie Island Indian Community
and Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, Minnesota Public Radio reported.

“We hope to be busy,” he said. “There’s not many open and, again, we want
people to come here and just keep coming back. We want to build loyalty.”

The dispensary is open over the weekend for customers who make a
reservation online, and starting on Monday the store will open up to
walk-in customers.

Friday is the store’s official opening day, and a follow-up grand opening
event is scheduled for Saturday.

This marks of the latest developments in Minnesota’s marijuana program
since the governor signed legalization into law in 2023.

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Last September, for example, Minnesota officials granted the state’s
first-ever marijuana event organizer license, allowing adults to buy and
consume cannabis products on-site at a festival. The first non-tribal
marijuana shops opened for sales to adults 21 and older earlier that month.

Also last year, the Minnesota city of Eden Prairie sought suggestions from
residents on what to name a new, government-branded cannabis gummy product to
be sold at municipal liquor stores.

Minnesota’s House of Representatives circulated a poll at last year’s State
Fair that asked attendees about the idea of allowing localities to enact
bans on marijuana businesses within their borders. Most respondents who
have an opinion on the issue agree with the policy, despite it not
currently being a part of the state’s cannabis laws.

Ahead of the enactment of legalization in Minnesota, lawmakers’ separate
State Fair polls found majority support for the reform.

The governor has also selected a top cannabis regulator for the state who
will oversee the adult-use market rollout. Last June, June, the state
Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) issued the state’s first recreational
marijuana license for a cultivation microbusiness.

OCM said at the time that it’s taking further steps to build up in the
industry and create opportunities to entrepreneurs, including opening a new
licensing window for cannabis testing facilities, accepting the first
applications for marijuana event licenses and verifying more social equity
status requests.

Separately, after Minnesota lawmakers passed a bill to end the
criminalization of bong water containing trace amount of drugs, the
governor signed the measure into law last May.

The change addresses an existing policy that had allowed law enforcement to
treat quantities of bong water greater than four ounces as equivalent to
the pure, uncut version of whatever drug the device was used to consume.


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Meanwhile, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) said in December that the state is “exploring”
how to respond to an impending federal ban on hemp THC products, which
would be “very disruptive” to a “thriving industry.”

At the congressional level, Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith
(D-MN), along with Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), addressed the forthcoming hemp
prohibition, which they said should be corrected by replacing that policy
with a regulatory framework similar to what Minnesota has implemented at
the state level to prevent youth access and ensure product safety for
adults.

Klobuchar, the ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, called
it a “pivotal moment for many farmers, workers and small business owners
who have built our state’s successful hemp industry.”

The senator touted the fact that she helped secure language in
appropriations legislation that provides grant funding for the University
of Minnesota to explore novel ways to utilize hemp for industrial purposes
such as construction materials and pet bedding.

Minnesota’s Democratic top prosecutor, Keith Ellison, was one of 39 state
and territory counterparts who sent a letter to congressional leaders last
month that voiced support for the hemp provisions of the spending bill
President Donald Trump signed. Ellison later defended his decision, in part
by arguing that states with regulations in place for cannabinoid products
like Minnesota should not have to worry about hemp entering their market from
unregulated, out-of-state operators.

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