(FOX 9) – Minnesota’s marijuana moment may come in the month of May.

The Office of Cannabis Management registered its finalized rules Monday, opening the door for licensing.

Regulation tape turning green

Licensing coming soon:

There’s still some red tape, but it could turn green very soon.

The first licenses could go out as soon as next month to microbusinesses — the “mom & pops” of the cannabis industry.

The bigger companies may have to wait a while longer for a lottery and licensing.

A 132-page list of rules hardly seems like exciting reading, but cannabis connoisseurs have waited almost two full years for these.

Minnesota’s Office of Cannabis Management put up the boundaries that will contain the cannabis industry.

“This is a big step,” said cannabis attorney Carol Moss, a partner at Hellmuth & Johnson.

Moss helped write the bill to legalize recreational marijuana in Minnesota.

One giant step

Moving marijuana forward:

These days, she’s advising business owners who had been stuck at Step 3 of a five-step process to get licensed.

Microbusiness licenses are not limited by the state, so now that the rules are in place, the small business entrepreneurs can find their storefronts, work with cities on zoning, build up their security, and start selling.

“I would be shocked if we don’t have stores opening up this summer,” Moss said.

“It seems startlingly quick after all this buildup, but I don’t see what else is holding us back at this point,” said David Mendolia, owner of St. Paul Cannabis.

Home field advantage?

Micro vs. macro:

Mendolia is one of about 1,850 people who applied for a microbusiness license.

They can open a single retail shop, cultivate up to 5,000 square feet, or manufacture on a small scale, or they can do all three.

Most of the small business hopefuls are from Minnesota, while a lot of the bigger license applicants come from out of state.

And it seems like the rules roll-out will help give locals a leg up.

“When we have day one recreational sales and there’s only so many people participating and there is only so much supply, you have a period time where you’ve got the market really cornered,” Mendolia said.

Supply shortage

Growing concern:

But as the rules stand, retailers won’t have a legal supply source until those cultivators finish a crop, which usually takes at least three months.

“If there’s some other method that we can legally acquire a recreational flower to sell, then perhaps once the sites are actually approved for retail sale, we could have something,” said Mendolia.

They’re working on that at the Capitol. Legislators may let medical cannabis companies supply regular retailers and the governor may sign a compact allowing tribes to sell their flower to regular retailers.

What’s next:

An OCM spokesperson tells FOX 9 qualified applicants will get messages starting tomorrow to let them know their next steps, and they expect to see the first licenses go out next month.