Minnesota’s Office of Cannabis Management announced that it’s canceling a planned lottery for special early cannabis licenses intended to help disadvantaged entrepreneurs get a leg-up in the nascent legal marijuana market.
The cancellation comes after several people filed suit alleging they were unlawfully denied, and a Ramsey County judge stayed the lottery that was supposed to take place late last month.
The agency says the benefits of a preapproval license — people would be able to jump start their businesses earlier than those who receive a standard license — are negated because of the court order, which means businesses won’t see the benefits of receiving a license early.
The move could affect Minnesota’s cannabis supply, as people who received early preapproval licenses would have been able to start cultivation before businesses who receive standard licenses.
“This was certainly not an outcome that we were hoping would materialize,” said interim OCM director Charlene Briner during a virtual press conference Wednesday. “We know that today’s path forward does not provide a perfect solution, but I’m hoping that (applicants) will take some comfort in seeing that there is a clear path forward.”
Social equity licenses are intended to prioritize business applications from people who have been harmed by marijuana prohibition in the past, as well as veterans and people living in high-poverty areas.
OCM accepted 648 applicants for the preapproval social equity lottery. A new social equity lottery will be held in May or June. A lottery for conventional licenses will follow.
Despite the ongoing litigation, Briner said state law says the OCM may conduct a preapproval lottery for social equity applicants, but it’s not required.
“We believe that because it’s discretionary and not a statutory mandate that we have the ability to end the process today,” Briner said.
OCM in a court filing alleged that a few of the applicants were involved in a “straw applicant scheme” — that included applicants from Iowa — in an effort to give themselves an advantage.
Sen. Lindsey Port, DFL-Burnsville and Rep. Zack Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids, the two chief authors of the bill legalizing adult-use cannabis, in a statement said they were disappointed that OCM is ending the preapproval lottery.
“The few bad actors who flooded the preapproval pool with duplicate or misleading applications have delayed the process for those who followed the rules, erasing the opportunity for social equity applicants to get their head start,” Port and Stephenson said.
They added: “It was foundational to the intent of this law that those who were most harmed by prohibition get a first shot at building Minnesota’s legal cannabis industry. It is frustrating those who did not follow the rules have disrupted that commitment.”
H/T: news.yahoo.com
