The Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management has announced the date for the first lottery to decide who will get cannabis business licenses from the state.

The license lottery will be June 5 for cannabis cultivators, manufacturers and “mezzobusinesses” — which are essentially all-in-one operations that can grow and buy cannabis, and make and sell cannabis products.

There’ll also be a June 5 lottery for cannabis retailer licenses for social equity applicants, including veterans, people who live in high-poverty areas and those historically harmed by the war on drugs.

A second lottery of cannabis retailer licenses — for general applicants as well as social equity applicants not selected in the June 5 lottery — will be held in July.

The announcement and sequence of lottery dates “reflects the office’s goal to license the supply chain from the starting points in order to foster an equitable cannabis market that prioritizes public health and safety, consumer confidence, and market integrity,” said Eric Taubel, interim director for the state’s Office of Cannabis Management, in a news release. He said the office “has prioritized the review of applications for the license types necessary to successfully stage the market.”

The state said hundreds of applicants have qualified for the lottery for a set number of licenses for various categories. More applications remain under review.

The Office of Cannabis Management said the June 5 license lottery will be livestreamed and available for the public to watch.

In November of 2024, lawsuits over the social equity lottery forced a judge to halt the Minnesota cannabis business license lottery.

Recreational marijuana became legal in 2023 in Minnesota.