Press Release: Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management announces date for cannabis license application lotteries

“The office has prioritized the review of applications for the license types necessary to successfully stage the market,” said OCM Interim Director Eric Taubel. “Today's announcement reflects the office's goal to license the supply chain from the starting points in order to foster an equitable cannabis market that prioritizes public health and safety, consumer confidence, and market integrity.” 

The lotteries mark a significant milestone in the state’s work to launch a legal adult-use cannabis industry that is expected to mature over the next several years. In order to qualify for the lottery, each application was rigorously reviewed to ensure consistency with statutory requirements and baseline standards of readiness. In reviewing applications, OCM assigned half of its reviewers to focus on the four license types limited in quantity by state statute, prioritizing those essential to building up the cannabis supply chain—cultivator, manufacturer, and mezzobusiness—followed closely by retailers.  

The other half of reviewers focused on license types available in unlimited quantities, beginning with testing facilities – another type essential to the launch of the state’s cannabis market. They then turned to applications for microbusiness and medical cannabis combination businesses to support cultivation capacity and continuity of access to medicine for medical patients. Finally, reviewers will focus on cannabis wholesaler, transporter, and delivery service license types, which represent downstream market services. Applications for cannabis event organizers and lower-potency hemp edible manufacturers and retailers will follow later this year.  

“In the coming weeks, more and more applicants will be notified that they are advancing to the application lotteries. They will soon join the hundreds of qualified social equity applicants who are already deep in the process of completing application requirements,” said Jess Jackson, OCM’s director of social equity. “It’s exciting to see the entrepreneurial spirit of our applicants as they get closer to having a license in hand and prepare to open their doors for business.”  

Following the lotteries 

The license application lotteries will be livestreamed for members of the public and the media via the office’s YouTube Channel: youtube.com/@MNCannabisManagement. Results will be posted to OCM’s website and shared with applicants after completion. OCM is partnering with Smartplay International, Inc., a recognized leader in digital lottery drawing systems, and Baker Tilly, an advisory tax and assurance firm, to conduct the lotteries. Both vendors have conducted cannabis license lotteries in other states. OCM has also engaged idream.tv Location Images, a local provider of video production and video streaming services, to assist in managing the lottery livestream on June 5. 

For more information, visit mn.gov/ocm.