Weeks before business licensing begins, Minnesota’s interim cannabis chief to step down from her post
January 6, 2025
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The interim director of the regulatory agency tasked with oversight of the new cannabis industry is stepping down a month before the state starts accepting license applications to operate legal marijuana businesses.
Charlene Briner has been leading the Office of Cannabis Management in the absence of a permanent director. She stayed in that role much longer than planned after Gov. Walz’s choice to lead the agency withdrew her name from contention following a report she was selling non-compliant THC hemp products.
The general counsel for the office, Eric Taubel, will succeed her as interim director starting Jan. 17, which is her last day.
“It has been an honor to assemble and lead the incredible team at OCM that is building something entirely new and necessary for Minnesota. Turning the words on the pages of a new law into a living, breathing, high-performing office has been some of the most novel, challenging and rewarding work of my career,” Briner said in a statement.
She added that the work was “always intended to be temporary” and that she has confidence in the team that she will leave behind.
But the announcement of her departure comes just days ahead of the first step in the new licensing timeline and a month before the application period opens. The adjusted licensing schedule follows a court challenge to a lottery that would’ve allowed some entrepreneurs to get a head start before the legal market launch. After a judge blocked that from happening, the Office of Cannabis Management ditched that plan and shifted focus to the general licensing period, which begins next week.
“Charlene Briner has gotten Minnesota’s emerging cannabis industry off the ground in a safe and responsible way. It’s no easy task to build a regulatory framework around an entirely new industry from scratch, but under Charlene’s leadership, Minnesota laid the foundation for a successful marketplace for years to come,” Walz said in a statement about her departure.
The Minnesota Legislature, when it legalized recreational marijuana use in 2023, established the Office of Cannabis Management to not only oversee the emerging adult-use market, but also the existing medical cannabis program and low-dose, hemp-derived THC products that are sold in thousands of stores across the state.
She steered the agency from its “scrappy” early days as it implemented new laws and readied for the first legal sales, which still haven’t happened. The initial target for market launch was in early 2025, but the first licenses will be issued as early as March, according to the most recent timeline, with others in the summer.
Under her leadership, the office also increased enforcement of non-compliant hemp THC products, including a lawsuit suing a retail store for illegal marijuana flower sales.
Taubel oversaw the drafting of more detailed regulations of the cannabis industry and developed the agency’s legal strategy for enforcement, according to a news release from Walz’s office.
“Eric is a proven, effective leader who brings legal expertise and a deep understanding of state government and regulatory affairs. He will ensure continued growth and success as we work to make Minnesota competitive in this new industry,” the governor said.
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