The recreational cannabis program in Minnesota could end up bringing in millions of tax dollars for the state – if it ever gets off the ground. On Thursday, the state is taking a key step forward by handing out the first licenses.

The lottery begins at 11 a.m. Thursday and will first give retail sales to social equity applicants. That group represents people of color, veterans and people who have been convicted of low-level marijuana offenses. Although license numbers will be drawn, the names and addresses of applicants won’t be publicly posted on Thursday.

About 200 applications have already been approved, so this is a big step for some of those businesses.

As of now, there’s no date yet for when the businesses will start selling, but Thursday marks a big step in that direction.

“We’ll see retail sales in adult use cannabis well in advance of 2026, but how many and where they are within the state really comes down to the individual license and how far along they are in the process,” said Eric Traubel, the Interim Director of the Office of Cannabis Management.

The Office of Cannabis Management will also hold a separate, general lottery for licenses of businesses hoping to grow, move, manufacture and sell the product.

Legal marijuana sales are expected to generate considerable tax dollars for Minnesota, with one report posted in 2024 by Quantum 9, a cannabis consulting company, that projects annual sales of $1.4 billion. It also estimated there will be $282 million per year in tax revenue – which doesn’t include licensing fees – and it could bring in between 20,000-40,000 jobs.

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