Lotteries to award four types of cannabis licenses in Minnesota may take place in May or June, according to the state’s Office of Cannabis Management. 

The agency says the drawings will be for cultivator, manufacturer, mezzobusiness and retailer licenses. 

Anyone who applied for a delivery service, medical combination, microbusiness, testing facility, transporter or wholesaler license will get a license if their application is approved. 

More than 2,000 applications were filed for cannabis licenses between Feb. 18 and March 14. The majority of applicants filed for a microbusiness license (1,322). 

Lotteries for each license type will be conducted in two parts. The first part will be limited to only verified social equity applicants. If not selected, qualified social equity verified applicants will be entered into the second part — open to all applicants — for the remaining licenses available.    

More than 1,800 applications were filed during in 2024, though state regulators denied two-thirds of those applicants for failure to meet statutory requirements and inconsistencies in documentation. 

In November 2024, several lawsuits forced a judge to halt the Minnesota cannabis business license lottery.

Applications for lower-potency hemp edible manufacturer licenses and lower-potency hemp edible retailer licenses will be accepted in the fall.  

The 300-page bill allowing adults 21 and older to use recreational marijuana was signed by Gov. Tim Walz in May 2023.

Note: The video above originally aired on Jan. 13, 2025.

• Marijuana
• Tim Walz
• Minnesota Legislature
• Cannabis