Majority of Minnesota Social Equity Applicants Are Military Veterans or Have Prior Cannabis Convictions

Minnesota officials received 1,817 applications for 280 cannabis industry licenses, according to Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) data outlined by MinnPost. The first licenses will be awarded to social equity applicants and the agency has verified 2,307 individuals as such, mostly military veterans and people with previous cannabis-related convictions. 

OCM will next determine whether the applicants meet minimum requirements before they are entered into the lottery. The timing of the lottery will be determined by how long that review process takes.  

Of the social equity applicants, 39% are military veterans, 29% have a previous cannabis conviction, 25% are residents in areas disproportionately impacted by cannabis enforcement, 6% have dependents with prior cannabis convictions, and less than 1% is the dependent of someone with a prior cannabis conviction. 

Minnesota’s cannabis law does not include residency provisions and just over half (50.4%) of applicants had a Minnesota address. 

The majority of business applications submitted were for microbusinesses (32%) and retailers (32%), followed by mezzobusiness (21%), delivery services (9%), cultivators (3%), manufacturers (3%), transporters (1%) and wholesalers (1%).  

The state plans to award 100 microbusiness licenses, 50 testing labs, 38 retailer licenses, 23 mezzobusiness, 20 of each wholesaler and transporter, 10 delivery, and six manufacturers. In instances where there were fewer applicants than licenses, no lottery will be conducted, such as with testing laboratories for which there were just five license requests. 

Adult-use cannabis sales are expected to begin in the state next year.