NEW BRIGHTON, Minn. — Minnesota’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) announced it’s one month away from a huge step forward in opening its first recreational marijuana shops. 

Legal experts say it has been a long and bumpy process since it became legal two years ago. 

OCM will hold its first lotteries June 5 for three types of business licenses that are critical, it says, to “establishing the supply chain in the state’s emerging adult-use market: cannabis cultivator, cannabis manufacturer and cannabis mezzobusiness.”

OCM will also hold a lottery the same day for social equity applicants applying for a cannabis retailer license. Already, 207 of them have been pre-approved, including Lucky Strains, LLC in New Brighton.

“I’m so excited,” said owner Sarabear Kelly-Modlin. “Minnesota is so ready for it.”

Kelly-Modler and her partner, Philly Modlin, opened their CBD and THC shop in January 2024. They say they’re committed to making a difference and some of their profits are donated to no-kill animal rescues and breast cancer foundations.  

“Most of our customers right now come in for maintaining daily life,” said Modlin. “Whether it’s less inflammation, less stress, able to get to sleep; it’s not so much about getting lit as it is about maintaining life.”

Minnesota is still setting up its recreational marijuana market since lawmakers legalized it two years ago. It’s a process that lawyer Jason Tarasek says has been laden with lawsuits, delays and opposition. 

“Every state has its own bumps along the way, we’ve had maybe more than most, but I think we’re so close to market launch at this point that all of this, I think, will be a distant memory very soon,” said Tarasek, a leading voice on Minnesota cannabis law and policy at Vincente LLP.

There are 50 cultivator licenses available and 96 total applicants. It could take months for these businesses to grow, test and package enough marijuana to sustain the state’s supply chain. 

There was a lottery for growers scheduled for last fall to get an early start on cultivation, but legal challenges forced the state to cancel it. 

“We might be licensed, but not have the product available, so it makes everything up in the air,” said Kelly-Modlin. 

Businesses will also have to satisfy zoning requirements, city registration and setting up a space. Kelly-Modlin says she’s ahead of the game and might be able to open in July.

OCM says another lottery for general applicants for the cannabis retailer license – which includes a second chance for social equity applicants not selected in the first lottery – will follow this summer.