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Minnesota's first full year of adult-use retail closed above $250M with 369 licensed businesses — 43% social-equity owned. We break down OCM's Oct 22 Hiring Fair at UROC, $10.9M in CanRenew grants, the SF 4401 omnibus bill, and CannaFest Nov 12.
Minnesota's legal cannabis market just closed its first full year of adult-use retail — and the numbers are bigger than almost anyone predicted. We walk through the latest from OCM, the SF 4401 omnibus bill, the federal hemp cliff, and what's next for tribal operators and community reinvestment.
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Will: —and I'm telling you, Matilda, if you'd told me a year ago we'd be sitting here talking about Minnesota legal retail like it's just... a thing people do on a Tuesday, I would've laughed at you.
Matilda: Right? Like, actually normal. You walk in, you buy a thing, you leave.
Will: You leave! With a receipt. Doncha know.
Matilda: Okay but — we have to say the number, right? Because I don't think people really heard it.
Will: Say the number.
Matilda: Over two hundred and fifty million dollars. First full year of adult-use retail. That's the state's own count.
Will: Two-fifty. In a market that didn't technically exist until September of last year.
Matilda: Roughly a hundred and fifty of that is adult-use, about a hundred is medical. And three sixty-nine licensed cannabis businesses on the board.
Will: Three sixty-nine. Nice.
Matilda: Don't.
Will: I'm not gonna — I'm not gonna do it. I'm being professional.
Matilda: Sure you are.
Will: Okay but here's the number I actually care about. Forty-three percent of those businesses are owned by verified social-equity applicants.
Matilda: That one's wild to me. Not because it happened, but because so many people assumed it wouldn't.
Will: Yeah, there was a lotta... pessimism going in.
Matilda: A LOT of pessimism.
Will: And listen, forty-three percent is a snapshot, not a finish line. Equity means they stay in business, not just open.
Matilda: Right, that's — that's actually a good pushback. Because you're the one who's usually like, "look at the number, celebrate the number."
Will: I celebrate the number AND the follow-through. I contain multitudes.
Matilda: Oh brother.
Will: Ope.
Matilda: There it is.
Will: Had to get one in early.
Matilda: So the other piece — tax revenue. Forty-five point six million dollars.
Will: Between last September and this July. That's the Department of Revenue number.
Matilda: And that's cannabis plus the lower-potency hemp edibles.
Will: Which — we gotta remember — Minnesota had the hemp edible market first. Before adult-use flower ever hit shelves.
Matilda: We were weird about it before everyone else was weird about it.
Will: That's the state motto.
Matilda: It should be.
Will: Okay so, OCM. The Office of Cannabis Management. They dropped the second "Seed Link" bulletin on the fourteenth.
Matilda: Two days ago.
Will: Two days ago, yeah. And buried in it — not even buried, it's the headline — the first Resource and Hiring Fair.
Matilda: When?
Will: Thursday the twenty-second. Two to six p.m. At UROC in Minneapolis.
Matilda: Which, for people who don't know, is the Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center up on Plymouth.
Will: Nice assist.
Matilda: Mm-hm.
Will: They're co-hosting it with licensed operators and workforce partners. The whole point is recruiting from social-equity-eligible communities.
Matilda: Which — hold on — this is important. Because people hear "social equity" and they think it's only for people trying to GET a license.
Will: Right.
Matilda: But a hiring fair means jobs. For people who maybe never wanna run a dispensary, they just wanna work in one.
Will: Trimmer, budtender, delivery, compliance, lab tech — like, there's a whole stack of jobs most people don't see.
Matilda: And a lotta those jobs, you don't need a four-year degree.
Will: You do not.
Matilda: So if you're listening and you're in the Cities and you're even curious — Thursday the twenty-second, UROC, two to six. Just show up.
Will: Show up. Bring a resume if you've got one. Don't sweat it if you don't.
Matilda: Same bulletin — this is the part I had to read twice — the CanRenew grants.
Will: Oh yeah.
Matilda: Roughly ten point nine million dollars in community investment, going out as FY26 Community Restoration awards.
Will: Ten point nine. And then the next round — FY27 — the request for proposals is launching soon.
Matilda: So if you're a nonprofit, a community organization, somebody doing reentry work, violence prevention, legal aid for people with cannabis convictions —
Will: — that's where the money is.
Matilda: That's where the money is.
Will: Which, remember, is the whole bargain of legalization in this state. Tax the market, reinvest in the communities most harmed by prohibition.
Matilda: And the fact that it's actually DOING that is... honestly surprising?
Will: It is surprising.
Matilda: We should be able to say that without it being a dig.
Will: We should.
Matilda: Minnesota nice but also Minnesota skeptical.
Will: Our whole brand.
Matilda: Okay — the dashboard.
Will: Yes. Yes yes yes.
Matilda: OCM launched a public market dashboard back in September.
Will: And this is my pitch to listeners — don't trust us. Go look it up yourself.
Matilda: Thanks, Will.
Will: I mean, trust us a LITTLE.
Matilda: But seriously — license counts by category, sales, tax revenue — it's all right there.
Will: You can see how many microbusinesses are licensed versus how many mezzobusinesses versus retailers. It breaks down.
Matilda: It's the first time regular people have had a real view into the market.
Will: And it matters because — look, if the government's gonna run a thing, they oughta show their work.
Matilda: Show your work. Big fan.
Will: Big fan of showing your work.
Matilda: Okay. Big one. Omnibus bill.
Will: SF 4401. Walz signed it in May.
Matilda: After it passed the Senate thirty-five to thirty-two —
Will: — squeaker —
Matilda: — and the House ninety-two to forty-two. On May seventeenth.
Will: And the changes went live August first.
Matilda: Okay, what matters.
Will: Three things. One: medical and adult-use supply chains are merging.
Matilda: Which — can you unpack that? Because I know what it means on paper. I don't know what it means for a person walking into Green Goods in Bloomington.
Will: Yeah so, before, medical operators and adult-use operators had kind of parallel universes. Different rules, different paperwork.
Matilda: Right.
Will: Merging the supply chain means — in theory — more product moves between them, prices get a little more rational, and medical patients aren't stuck on an island.
Matilda: In theory.
Will: In theory.
Will: Two: the new macrobusiness license. That goes live January first, twenty twenty-seven.
Matilda: And a macrobusiness is...?
Will: Honestly? I don't fully know how OCM is drawing the line yet.
Matilda: Oh.
Will: Like, I know it's the big-boy tier. Bigger than retailer, bigger than mezzobusiness, allowed to do more things vertically.
Matilda: But the specifics —
Will: — I'd be making it up. And we don't do that on this show.
Matilda: We don't do that.
Will: We will come back to it when it goes live.
Matilda: Mark it down.
Will: Three — and this is the one I've been waiting for — social-equity licensees can now hold up to four licenses.
Matilda: Up from one.
Will: And they can accept up to thirty-three percent outside investment.
Matilda: Okay. This is where I'm gonna push back a little.
Will: Push.
Matilda: Because on one hand — great, you unlock capital for equity operators, they can actually scale.
Will: Yeah.
Matilda: On the other hand — thirty-three percent outside investment and up to four licenses — that's a pathway for bigger money to kinda... effectively consolidate under equity names.
Will: Yeah. That's a real risk.
Matilda: It's not THE outcome but it's A possible outcome.
Will: And the only way we'll know is — again — the dashboard. Watch who's actually operating a year from now.
Matilda: Right.
Will: Because an equity-owned license on paper and an equity-controlled business in practice are two different things.
Matilda: Thank you. Yes.
Will: You got me. Fair point.
Matilda: Twice in one episode.
Will: Uff da.
Matilda: Okay. Hemp cliff.
Will: Oh boy.
Matilda: Walk me through this because this one scares me.
Will: So — federal level. The 2025 farm-bill rider.
Matilda: Right.
Will: There's a "total THC" standard that would knock a lotta hemp-derived products out of the legal hemp category.
Matilda: Which in Minnesota means — a huge chunk of the drinks and edibles people have been buying since 2022.
Will: Correct. Think Stigma, think the whole beverage shelf you see at the co-op.
Matilda: Yeah.
Will: In September, Congress partially delayed it.
Matilda: Partially.
Will: Partially. Here's the split. Cannabinoids that are, quote, "not capable of being naturally produced" — those lose hemp status November twelfth of this year.
Matilda: Which is like... a month away.
Will: Four weeks.
Matilda: Mm.
Will: Everything else gets pushed to December eleventh.
Matilda: So two cliffs. One in November, one in December.
Will: And on the Minnesota side — Rep. Angie Craig and Rep. Andy Barr out of Kentucky have filed a bill to regulate hemp-THC like alcohol.
Matilda: Which would be a lifeline for Minnesota operators.
Will: It would. But — no hearing yet.
Matilda: No hearing.
Will: Just a filing.
Matilda: Okay.
Will: So for consumers, what this means is — if you buy a hemp-derived product you love, don't panic, but don't be shocked if the shelf looks different come December.
Matilda: And this is where buying Minnesota-licensed cannabis — the state-regulated kind — is a hedge.
Will: It's a hedge, yeah. The adult-use flower and the state-licensed edible side — that's not touched by the federal hemp fight.
Matilda: Different lane.
Will: Different lane entirely.
Matilda: Okay — tribal.
Will: Fond du Lac.
Matilda: Fond du Lac. Walz signed the compact earlier this year.
Will: And their consumption lounge at Black Bear Casino Resort opened May fifteenth.
Matilda: Up by Duluth.
Will: First operational tribal cannabis consumption lounge in Minnesota.
Matilda: First one anywhere in the state, really. That's the key word.
Will: Consumption lounge. Which is a thing that didn't exist here until this year.
Matilda: Have you been?
Will: I have not. Not yet. I keep saying I'll make it a weekend thing — go up north, hit the lounge, come home.
Matilda: It's on my list.
Will: It's a drive. But — the cabin's up that way, so.
Matilda: Multitask.
Will: Multitask.
Matilda: And then White Earth.
Will: White Earth is the one I think is historically wild.
Matilda: Explain.
Will: Their compact with the state uniquely allows their enterprise — Waabigwan Mashkiki — to operate dispensaries OFF-reservation.
Matilda: Anywhere in Minnesota.
Will: Anywhere in Minnesota.
Matilda: Which no other tribe in the state has.
Will: And honestly, I don't know of another state in the country where a tribe has that arrangement.
Matilda: It's a big deal.
Will: It is a big deal. And it reframes how you think about tribal cannabis — it's not just "on-rez enterprise."
Matilda: It's a statewide retail operator.
Will: Statewide operator. Yeah.
Matilda: Okay. Osseo.
Will: Osseo.
Matilda: Tell the people.
Will: Osseo was supposed to open the first municipally owned dispensary in the United States.
Matilda: First in the country.
Will: In the former Osseo Press building. Operated under contract by Voyageur Cannabis Services.
Matilda: And the money was supposed to come from a four million dollar tax abatement bond.
Will: Correct. In June, the city council took no action on the bond.
Matilda: No action. Not "voted no," just —
Will: — didn't move.
Matilda: Which effectively is a no.
Will: It's a no with wiggle room, which is maybe the most Minnesota outcome.
Matilda: Oh my gosh.
Will: Residents raised real questions about the cost.
Matilda: Yeah, four million is spendy.
Will: It's spendy, especially for a city of what, three thousand people?
Matilda: Something like that.
Will: So it's on hold. Not dead, but — on hold.
Matilda: And honestly, Will, that's a story I'd rather see move slow and get right than move fast and blow up.
Will: Agreed. Hundred percent.
Matilda: Because if it works, every small city in the state is gonna want to look at that model.
Will: And if it fails loudly? It poisons the model for a decade.
Matilda: Right.
Will: So — patience, Osseo.
Matilda: Patience, Osseo.
Will: Okay — I wanna do consumer education for a sec.
Matilda: Go.
Will: Terpenes. Specifically myrcene.
Matilda: Myrcene.
Will: Why are we whispering?
Matilda: Because it sounds like a spell.
Will: It kinda does.
Matilda: Okay. Why myrcene?
Will: Because it's the most prevalent terpene in most cannabis chemovars on the shelf.
Matilda: Chemovars meaning strains, for people playing at home.
Will: Chemovars meaning strains, basically. Myrcene is the one you smell as kind of musky, earthy. Like damp forest floor.
Matilda: Like a basement.
Will: A nice basement.
Matilda: And the claim people make is it's the "couch lock" terpene.
Will: Right. The sedating one.
Matilda: Is that true?
Will: Here's where I'm gonna be honest. There's a 2021 review on PubMed — NIH-indexed — that associates myrcene with sedative, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory effects.
Matilda: Okay.
Will: In animal models.
Matilda: Ah.
Will: And the same review is careful to say — human trials are lacking, and the broader "entourage effect" idea remains unproven.
Matilda: So... maybe.
Will: Maybe. The aroma profile is a real tool for picking a product you'll enjoy.
Matilda: Yeah.
Will: But if a budtender tells you "this strain WILL knock you out because of the myrcene" — that's running ahead of the evidence.
Matilda: That's a good distinction. Because it's not that it's fake. It's that the claim is bigger than the data.
Will: Exactly. Use your nose. Trust your experience. But don't let anyone sell you certainty that isn't there.
Matilda: And honestly? Shops like Wildflower North Loop, Simply Crafted, Edina Canna — the good budtenders know the difference between "here's what people report" and "here's what the lab proves."
Will: They do. And a good shop will tell you when something's anecdote versus evidence.
Matilda: Mm. Shoutout to the good budtenders.
Will: Skol to the good budtenders.
Matilda: Shoutout, skol, same thing.
Will: Same vibe.
Matilda: Okay — one more thing before we wrap. CannaFest.
Will: Oh yeah, mark your calendar.
Matilda: Thursday, November twelfth. Six to nine p.m.
Will: At The Lowlands in St. Paul.
Matilda: Forty-five-plus Minnesota hemp and cannabis vendors.
Will: And — this is the headline — first CannaFest with a designated on-site consumption area.
Matilda: Which is new. That's a 2026 thing.
Will: That's a this-year thing.
Matilda: Because the law changed enough that an event like this could actually host consumption on-site.
Will: Legally and openly. Which, two years ago, pfft.
Matilda: Pfft.
Will: Would not have happened.
Matilda: So if you've been meaning to try a bunch of local products in one place, meet operators —
Will: — chat up a brand you've seen on a shelf and never actually met —
Matilda: — November twelfth. The Lowlands. St. Paul.
Will: Pop that in your phone.
Matilda: You said pop.
Will: I said pop.
Matilda: Love it.
Will: Alright. One concrete takeaway for folks listening right now.
Matilda: Hit me.
Will: If you're in or near the Cities and you've been even half-curious about working in the industry — Thursday the twenty-second, two to six p.m., UROC, OCM's Resource and Hiring Fair. Just go.
Matilda: Even if you're not sure.
Will: Especially if you're not sure. You will learn more in those four hours than in two months of googling.
Matilda: And it's free.
Will: And it's free.
Matilda: And the industry's at a point where who gets in NOW shapes who runs it in five years.
Will: That's exactly right.
Matilda: Okay — before we go. Where should folks keep up with all of this?
Will: mncannabishub.com. We've got the dispensary menus, we've got reviews, we've got the latest coverage on everything we talked about today.
Matilda: The hiring fair, CannaFest, the omnibus rollout, the hemp cliff —
Will: — all of it. One spot.
Matilda: mncannabishub.com.
Will: And OCM's dashboard. Both. Go look at the data yourself.
Matilda: Trust but verify.
Will: Minnesota skeptical, remember.
Matilda: Our brand.
Will: Matilda, good talking to you.
Matilda: You too, Will. Stay warm out there.
Will: It's October, we got a minute.
Matilda: Oh, we got a minute.
Will: Okay fine, stay warm.
Matilda: Take care of each other, folks.
Will: We'll see you next week.
Minnesota's weekly cannabis news, dispensary updates, and policy briefings. Recreational and medical, OCM moves, new strains, dispensary openings, and the people running the industry. Brought to you by mncannabishub.com and Leafwell (code MNHUB — $99 medical card visits).