Cannabis Cultivation Could Begin This Year As Minnesota Governor Signs Numerous Changes To Current Law

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) signed a cannabis policy bill recently that included many significant changes to the adult-use cannabis law.

The Governor's signature comes about a week after Minnesota regulatorspassed these changes at the end of this session. Among the most important included all military veterans to its social equity program, which is expected to expand the pool of applicants for marijuana business licenses. Some 327,000 military vets reside in Minnesota.

The bill also contains a provision making social equity applicants eligible for pre-approval, enabling some of them to commence with cultivation earlier. The goal is to allow social equity applicants to have their products on the shelves before traditional applicants. This means that social equity applicants, which include people previously convicted of a marijuana-related offense, their family members and those who live in disadvantaged areas, can have their licenses approved this year, while others need to wait until 2025 to apply.

According to Minnesota Reformer's estimates new social equity licensing rules would make between 30% to 40% of state adults suitable to qualify for social equity cannabis business licenses.

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The new law also loosens medical marijuana regulations by allowing patients to obtain medical marijuana cards for any condition at a physician's discretion. Previously this right was reserved only for patients suffering from certain conditions, such as cancer, HIV/AIDS or glaucoma.

Other important changes include a random lottery-based system for licensing, allowing bars and restaurants to serve both THC and alcoholic beverages to the same person, if the person is not visibly intoxicated, imposes caps on certain license types in the market's first two year to avoid over-saturation.

Now read: Nearly 58,000 Misdemeanor Cannabis Convictions ExpungedUnder Minnesota's Marijuana Legalization Law