St. Paul, MN — On Friday evening, April 4, a Ramsey County District Court judge issued an alternate writ of mandamus regarding Case #62-CV-25-810. Today, the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management issued the following statement by Interim Director Eric Taubel regarding the order:

The judge’s order allows the Office of Cannabis Management to seek dismissal of the case on an expedited basis, which we intend to do. With the adoption of the rules governing Minnesota's cannabis industry imminent, OCM expects to be able to begin issuing licenses to qualified social equity applicants in a matter of weeks. There are currently more than a thousand qualified applicants for social equity licenses who are first in line to receive business licenses, and OCM has been clear since November that any delay to the lottery would prove fatal to the preapproval process. At this stage, additional litigation and delays serve no one. OCM looks forward to continuing its work to get licenses out the door and launching the market as soon as possible. 

Eric Taubel
Interim Director
Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management