Minnesota OCM Unveils Cannabis License Application Lottery Dates

On May 5, 2025, the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) revealed in a press release (1), that the state will host license application lotteries on June 5, 2025 for social equity and general applicants for three types of licenses.

Those general applicant license types will be:

1. Cannabis cultivator
2. Cannabis manufacturer
3. Cannabis mezzobusiness

These types of licenses will help assist with the supply chain for the adult-use market.

Another lottery will take place on June 5, 2025, for social equity applicants (SEAs) that are interested in applying for a cannabis retailer license (1). General applicants for cannabis retailer licenses will have a lottery in July which can be a second opportunity for SEA applicants who were not selected in the first lottery round.

“The office has prioritized the review of applications for the license types necessary to successfully stage the market,” OCM Interim Director Eric Taubel, said (1). “Today's announcement reflects the office's goal to license the supply chain from the starting points in order to foster an equitable cannabis market that prioritizes public health and safety, consumer confidence, and market integrity.”

The press release mentioned that (1), “Each application underwent a rigorous review to ensure consistency with statutory requirements and baseline standards of readiness. In reviewing applications, OCM assigned half of its reviewers to focus on the four license types limited in quantity by state statute, prioritizing those essential to building up the cannabis supply chain—cultivator, manufacturer, and mezzobusiness—followed closely by retailers.”

According to the press release, the remaining half of reviewers were tasked with license types (3) that were available in unlimited quantities. First the reviewers looked at testing facilities, and then reviewed applications for microbusinesses and medical cannabis combination businesses which will help with cultivation capacity and allow access to medicine for medical cannabis patients. After these license applicants, reviewers will work on reviewing cannabis delivery service, cannabis wholesaler, and cannabis transporter license types. Later in the year (1), applications involving cannabis event organizers and lower-potency hemp edible manufacturers and retailers will be reviewed.

MPR News reported that as of May 1,2025, state records showed (2):

• 95 applicants for 50 available cannabis cultivator licenses
• 80 applicants for 24 available cannabis manufacturer licenses
• 267 applicants for 100 available cannabis mezzobusiness licenses
• 724 applicants for 150 available cannabis retailer licenses

“In the coming weeks, more and more applicants will be notified that they are advancing to the application lotteries. They will soon join the hundreds of qualified social equity applicants who are already deep in the process of completing application requirements,” commented Jess Jackson, OCM’s director of social equity (1). “It’s exciting to see the entrepreneurial spirit of our applicants as they get closer to having a license in hand and prepare to open their doors for business.”

The lotteries for license applications will be livestreamed for the public and media and can be viewed on the Minnesota OCM’s YouTube Channel (4). OCM will be partnering with SmartPlay International, Inc., an organization involved with digital lottery systems, and Baker Tilly, a advisory tax and assurance firm, to organize the lotteries (1).

References

1. Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management announces date for cannabis license application lotteries https://mn.gov/ocm/media/news-releases/?id=682839 (accessed May 7, 2025).
2. MPR News Staff. Date set for lottery to determine Minnesota Cannabis Business Licenses https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/05/06/date-set-lottery-determine-minnesota-cannabis-business-licenses (accessed May 7, 2025).
3. General licensing https://mn.gov/ocm/businesses/licensing/license-types.jsp (accessed May 7, 2025).
4. Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management https://www.youtube.com/@MNCannabisManagement (accessed May 7, 2025).