A New Government-Run Marijuana Store Just Opened In Minnesota

The first government-run marijuana retailer in Minnesota has officially opened its doors, marking another milestone in the state’s adult-use cannabis program.

The city of Anoka announced last week that it had completed constructions of the facility. Now the shop is operational, with a “historic” soft launch on Thursday, Mayor Erik Skogquist said.

“Our residents want safe, vibrant and well maintained communities, while keeping taxes as low as practicable,” he said. “The Anoka Cannabis Company allows the city of Anoka to do just that.”

While lawmakers outside of Minnesota have previously floated proposals to have state-run dispensaries, that’s been met with resistance in states like Pennsylvania. But Anoka sees a unique opportunity to demonstrate how municipal government can leverage legalization in a way that more directly benefits local residents and initiatives.

Kevin Morelli, city manager of liquor and cannabis operations, said the retailer is sourcing its cannabis from the Prairie Island Indian Community and Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, Minnesota Public Radio reported.

“We hope to be busy,” he said. “There’s not many open and, again, we want people to come here and just keep coming back. We want to build loyalty.”

The dispensary is open over the weekend for customers who make a reservation online, and starting on Monday the store will open up to walk-in customers.

Friday is the store’s official opening day, and a follow-up grand opening event is scheduled for Saturday.

This marks of the latest developments in Minnesota’s marijuana program since the governor signed legalization into law in 2023.

Last September, for example, Minnesota officials granted the state’s first-ever marijuana event organizer license, allowing adults to buy and consume cannabis products on-site at a festival. The first non-tribal marijuana shops opened for sales to adults 21 and older earlier that month.

Also last year, the Minnesota city of Eden Prairie sought suggestions from residents on what to name a new, government-branded cannabis gummy product to be sold at municipal liquor stores.

Minnesota’s House of Representatives circulated a poll at last year’s State Fair that asked attendees about the idea of allowing localities to enact bans on marijuana businesses within their borders. Most respondents who have an opinion on the issue agree with the policy, despite it not currently being a part of the state’s cannabis laws.

Ahead of the enactment of legalization in Minnesota, lawmakers’ separate State Fair polls found majority support for the reform.

The governor has also selected a top cannabis regulator for the state who will oversee the adult-use market rollout. Last June, June, the state Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) issued the state’s first recreational marijuana license for a cultivation microbusiness.

OCM said at the time that it’s taking further steps to build up in the industry and create opportunities to entrepreneurs, including opening a new licensing window for cannabis testing facilities, accepting the first applications for marijuana event licenses and verifying more social equity status requests.

Separately, after Minnesota lawmakers passed a bill to end the criminalization of bong water containing trace amount of drugs, the governor signed the measure into law last May.

The change addresses an existing policy that had allowed law enforcement to treat quantities of bong water greater than four ounces as equivalent to the pure, uncut version of whatever drug the device was used to consume.

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Meanwhile, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) said in December that the state is “exploring” how to respond to an impending federal ban on hemp THC products, which would be “very disruptive” to a “thriving industry.”

At the congressional level, Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN), along with Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), addressed the forthcoming hemp prohibition, which they said should be corrected by replacing that policy with a regulatory framework similar to what Minnesota has implemented at the state level to prevent youth access and ensure product safety for adults.

Klobuchar, the ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, called it a “pivotal moment for many farmers, workers and small business owners who have built our state’s successful hemp industry.”

The senator touted the fact that she helped secure language in appropriations legislation that provides grant funding for the University of Minnesota to explore novel ways to utilize hemp for industrial purposes such as construction materials and pet bedding.

Minnesota’s Democratic top prosecutor, Keith Ellison, was one of 39 state and territory counterparts who sent a letter to congressional leaders last month that voiced support for the hemp provisions of the spending bill President Donald Trump signed. Ellison later defended his decision, in part by arguing that states with regulations in place for cannabinoid products like Minnesota should not have to worry about hemp entering their market from unregulated, out-of-state operators.