Last week's newsletter mostly focused on how this year's bill changed the licensing process for adult-use. But the new bill also tweaked Minnesota cannabis law in lots of other ways! Here's some more detail on some of those:

Changes to Hemp-Derived / Low-Dose Edibles and Beverages Include:

Soon: On Tap! Effective July 1, hemp-derived beverages can be offered on tap and in (non-alcoholic) mocktails, as long as the information that is required on the packaging is posted / displayed by the retailer, effective July 1, 2024. Sec. 6, amending Minn. Stat. Sec. 151.72. A conforming change to the permanent rules was also made in Sec 97, editing Sec. 342.46.

No 5-Hour Rule. Instead, hemp derived beverages cannot be sold or served to a consumer who is an “obviously intoxicated" person.

CBN will be OK. Can contain up to "25 mg of CBD, CBC, CBN or CBG" per serving, effective March 2024 when the temporary rules end. Note: this language is unclear whether there can be 25 mg of EACH of these cannabinoids, or TOTAL between the 4, which is a very important question! Sec. 42 amends Minn. Stat. Sec. 342.01 (defining lower-potency hemp-edible).

Future Approvals. Also creates a path by which we can petition OCM to approve other cannabinoids (I’m looking at you, THC-V!).

Serving Size Fix. Finally, allows products to be packaged with a serving soup or dropper showing serving if they cannot be scored, which is good news for people who make tinctures, spices, and so forth. Effective July 1, 2024.

No Robots! No images depicting toys, robots, fruits or vegetables (except when describing ingredients or flavors contained in a product), or images "bearing a likeness to characters or phrases that are popularly used to advertise to children." Sec. 125, amending Sec. 342.62, effective now.

Changes to the Medical Cannabis Program:

All Conditions Qualify. Qualifying Conditions now include "a medical condition for which an individual's health care practitioner has recommended, approved, or authorized the use of cannabis by that individual to treat the condition," which opens the medical program up to anyone who needs it! Sec. 13, amending Minn. Stat. Sec. 152.22, effective July 1, 2024.

Veterans Can Self-Attest. Veterans will have even easier access and may attest that they have been diagnosed with a qualifying medical condition. Sec. 103, amending Minn. Stat. Sec. 342.52, effective July 1, 2024.

Caregiver Grow. A registered medical patient who does not want to/cannot grow their 8 homegrow plants can delegate those 8 plants to be grown by their registered designated caregiver. One caregiver, may cultivate up to the maximum of eight plants on behalf of ONE patient, AS WELL as up to eight plants for themselves. This is effective July 1, 2024.

By the way - it is now free to register with the state as a medical patient (HF100 made that change last year). With that, coupled with the broad qualifying conditions, you may want to consider registering in the medical program if it is potentially helpful for you in order to get the employment, housing and other legal protections, delegate your plant count to a caregiver if you don't want to grow, etc. https://www.health.state.mn.us/people/cannabis/patients/registration.html

Have more questions? There's lots more that could be said. Here's an updated link to the full bill as a Session Law: Chapter 121 - MN Laws . Don't forget to also review existing Minnesota law, which does not appear in this year's bill unless the section was amended. Here's Chapter 342" Ch. 342 MN Statutes

Or, please contact us to discuss how the bill impacts your business and plans, and how North Star Cannabis Law can help you through licensing. Contact Nikki to help you schedule with us! Nikki@northstarlaw.com or 651-330-9678.

New team member Chris Meehleib will be helping with these consults as well as supporting our clients as we move through licensing. Chris has his JD/MBA and is helping build the License Builder tool we'll be rolling out shortly to help our clients meet those application qualifications and get into the lottery.

SOCIAL EQUITY FLAT FEE PLANS

Today is the last day for early bird pricing for our Social Equity Licensing Flat Fee Plans!

Prices go up on Saturday June 1st, so if you're a social equity applicant, act now and secure your spot. Email Nikki@northstarlaw.com ASAP so we can lock in your pricing.

When the state legislature legalized cannabis in 2023, it created four programs to assist business creation and to train a workforce that is ready for jobs in cannabis. The Minnesota Department Employment and Economic Development (DEED) and Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) are now seeking comments from Minnesota citizens on the four programs:

- CanGrow: A $2 million program to provide technical assistance and financing for farmers to enter Minnesota’s legal cannabis industry.

- CanNavigate: A $2 million program to expand technical assistance for businesses in the legal cannabis industry.

- CanStartup: A $6 million fund to help finance licensed cannabis microbusinesses.

- CanTrain: A $4 million workforce development program aimed at preparing workers for jobs in the legal cannabis industry.

These programs could benefit:

- Entrepreneurs interested in starting a legal cannabis business;

- Nonprofit lenders that would like to lend to licensed cannabis businesses;

- Experts in cannabis policy and industry; and

- Those who would like to pursue jobs and careers in the cannabis sector.

You can read more at KIMT or click the link below.

Accepting survey responses until June 14th.

Daily cannabis use outnumbers alcohol in Minnesota: A recent study published in the journal Addiction found that for the first time, daily marijuana users outnumber daily alcohol drinkers in the United States.

Read more: Daily alcohol, cannabis use on the rise in Minnesota • Minnesota Reformer

More than one-third of adults may qualify for social equity cannabis licenses. Between 30% and 40% of Minnesota adults could plausibly qualify as “social equity” applicants for cannabis business licenses, according to a Reformer estimate based on the new equity rules approved by the Legislature this year. As the Reformer reports:

The social equity criteria written into law now include a number of economic and social measures that go beyond individuals and communities who have been targeted for past marijuana enforcement. They encompass anyone who:

- has lived for five years in a neighborhood where more than 20% of people are in poverty or on food stamps, or where the median income is less than 80% of the statewide or metro area;

- has lived for five years in a neighborhood with high levels of social vulnerability as defined by the Centers for Disease Control;

- is a military veteran or member of the National Guard;

- was convicted of a cannabis offense in the past, or had a close family member convicted of an offense;

- manages a small farm with less than $100,000 in annual sales;

- has lived for five years in a neighborhood that has seen a “disproportionate” rate of prior cannabis enforcement, as determined in a forthcoming study by the Office of Cannabis Management.

Full Story: More than one-third of adults may qualify for social equity cannabis licenses • Minnesota Reformer

Tribal nations could become major players in Minnesota’s new cannabis market: MinnPost’s Peter Callaghan provides an update on negotiations between Gov. Tim Walz’s administration and 10 of Minnesota’s tribal nations on a compact that could allow the tribes to sell cannabis both on and off tribal lands. Callaghan writes:

Walz administration officials say talks are progressing and include discussions of off-reservation cannabis businesses owned by tribes, as well as business interactions between tribal entities and state-licensed businesses. The negotiations involve 10 tribes, though not all are expected to get into cannabis cultivation and sales, said the officials who agreed to speak to MinnPost on condition that their names not be used because negotiations are ongoing. The one tribe not taking part is the Upper Sioux Community.

Callaghan spoke with two state lawmakers who shepherded last year’s bill that legalized recreational cannabis in Minnesota — Port and Rep. Zach Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids — who suggested that a compact could allow tribes to wholesale cannabis products to non-tribal dispensaries and open dispensaries outside of tribal lands. The Legislature does not have a role in negotiating or approving tribal compacts.

Full story: Talks could make tribes big players in Minnesota's cannabis market (minnpost.com)

From the Star Tribune:

Fond du Lac Band to open cannabis cultivation facility in Carlton: This news comes to us buried deep in a news release about job training grants from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development [DEED]. The agency announced last week that a partnership between the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College and Fond du Lac Band Cannabis. Corp has been awarded a $30,654 grant to help train workers who want to enter the legal cannabis industry. The release also notes that “Fond du Lac Band Cannabis Corp. in Cloquet is a startup company opening a cannabis cultivation and manufacturing facility, located on the tribe's reservation, that will supply medical and adult-use cannabis products ranging from flower to edibles and concentrates.” The Pine Knot News reports that the facility will be located “near the intersection of Hwy. 210 and Interstate 35 in Carlton,” which would place it near the Black Bear Casino Resort about 20 miles southwest of Duluth. A tribal spokesman acknowledged the existence of the project but declined to answer questions about the plans.

Prairie Island Indian Community building large grow operation near Hastings: Coming on the heels of its announcement in March that it will open a cannabis dispensary this summer, the Prairie Island Indian Community is preparing to build a large cannabis cultivation facility in Ravenna Township, between Hastings and Red Wing, according to Prairie Island spokesman Eric Pehle. The tribe’s plans for the facility were first reported by the Hastings Journal in April. The compound will sit on a 13-acre parcel of land owned by the tribe and will include up to five 12,500 to 15,000-square-foot buildings and 2.5 acres for outdoor cultivation, according to the Journal. Pehle said preliminary work is underway at the site and the tribe will provide more information at a future groundbreaking event. Marijuana grown at the facility will be sold at the tribal dispensary. Prairie Island representatives were expected to present plans for the property at a Ravenna Township board meeting Thursday, but they later declined, the Journal reported Wednesday.

Are you signed up for Star Tribune Nuggets? Read it here.

Federal Rescheduling: President Biden formally announced in May that cannabis would be moving from a Schedule I to Schedule III drug, and, in what the president called a "monumental" move towards "reversing longstanding inequities", the Biden Administration opened its proposal for less stringent federal rules for public comment.

The DEA is accepting public comment until July 22, 2024 via the Federal eRulemaking Portal. NORML has developed a nice website to help you prepare and submit your comment - click here to do so: Tell the DEA That Cannabis Doesn’t Belong in Schedule I - NORML

Farm Bill: An amendment was introduced to the Farm Bill in Congress that would kill the intoxicating hemp industry. At this time, I don't know that that amendment has any chance of becoming law, but I'm following the national lobbyists and lawyers' comments.

This episode includes discussion of the CannOmnibus Bill! Join Tanner and Marcus in Episode 35.

Click the Spotify link below to tune in.

North Star Law Group is a proud sponsor of the Northern Lights Podcast!

Trichome Lounge will be opening at 3037 Lyndale Ave in Minneapolis in mid-June!

Chef, born in Belfast, Ireland and raised in California, has spent the past 30+ years growing, breeding and perfecting a wide array of cannabis strains across the globe while literally making a name for himself in the food and beverage industry. He picked up the name Chef, while working in that industry and now brings his passion for beverages to the cannabis industry.

Chef is an expert in the growing, breeding and overall cultivation of the plant we all know and love. He has leveraged this experience in many different ventures, including serving as VP of Marketing and Events at Sensi Seeds North America when he was tapped to bring Sensi Seeds to the US. Sensi Seeds is the world’s largest cannabis seedbank based out of Amsterdam and are widely known as the pioneers of the cannabis seed industry.

What Chef loves most about the industry, is that is an ever changing and evolving industry. He is passionate about Heritage Craft Cannabis as well as the overall culture around the plant. It brings him great joy knowing that this culture is finally being more socially accepted and widely enjoyed. Especially here in Minnesota.

Chef’s latest venture is Trichrome, a private cannabis consumption lounge in Minneapolis. This lounge will be a Non-Alcoholic (“NA”) lounge focusing on high end mocktails where consumers will have a variety of memberships options available to purchase. Once a member of the lounge, members will have access to a space for mycological vibes, an eclectic selection of THC beverages, ethnobotanical plants, and plenty of good energy to go around. The lounge will feature a stage where comedy events, live music, and educational workshops will be displayed.

The lounge will also include a bottle store with a focus on craft adaptogenic beverages and many of the best brands of THC beverages available.

Some notable events that Trichrome will be hosting this summer include:

· Soil King Legends of Legacy with Patrick King, Adam Dunn, & More

· Lost Art Workshop

· Minneapolis Psychedelic Symposium

Trichome aims to be an alternative option for those who are looking for a different type of energy from a traditional bar that serves primarily alcohol. Only nonalcoholic beverages will be served, ranging from cans of craft cannabis beverages to high end libation mocktails made with Kava beverages.

Chef started Trichrome to create a place where like-minded individuals can gather to create positive vibes with old friends or make new ones. His goal is to provide a space where members can bring their true selves and nourish their mind, body and spirit, while enjoying positive energy around the plant.

Chef aims for Trichrome to become a place for people to reach their true potential through music, the arts and community building. He believes that Cannabis is an avenue that allows for individuals to “Reach who they really are, once they are where they should be” and hopes that Trichrome can be the place where Minnesotans can start, or continue, that journey.

Trichome Lounge will be opening at 3037 Lyndale Ave in Minneapolis in mid-June!

STAY TUNED FOR GRAND OPENING INFORMATION

The Minnesota Craft Cannabis Guild is doing a second round of their 4-part informational series about cannabis! Designed to be accessible to the canna-curious but also informative for folks who are immersed in the culture / industry.

Future Sessions, also at CannajoyMN:

Part 4: Homegrown Saturday, June 15th 2:00-3:30pm

Ready to learn how North Star can help you?

Schedule a free 15-minute initial consultation by emailing Nikki@northstarlaw.com or calling 651-384-2782.