“I don’t think it was anticipated that the tribal program and operations would start so far ahead of non-tribal licenses.”
Amid the coffeeshops and cocktail lounges that dot the intersection of West 25th Street and South Lyndale Avenue in Minneapolis sits the Loon Smoke Shop, where amiable loiterers congregate late into the evening vaping or smoking.
You might soon find a scene like this a few blocks south at the smoke shop’s new dispensary, which is in the final steps of the state cannabis licensing process and is hiring people “passionate” about the marijuana industry.
“We’re currently looking for budtenders, lead budtenders and store managers,” an Instagram post read.
When Gov. Tim Walz (DFL) signed legislation legalizing cannabis in 2023, there was a retail target that stores across the state would open by 2025 at the latest.
As MinnPost has diligently chronicled, that hasn’t happened. Asked last week which of the DFL-controlled Legislature’s myriad laws passed in 2023 is most difficult to implement, Gov. Walz was quick to say legal weed.
That might be changing.
In the last month, the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) has granted final approval to five retailers to begin selling
Read full article on Marijuana Moment
