Minnesota's legal cannabis market could be headed toward a chaotic launch next year if legislators or regulators don't figure out how to license growers ahead of dispensaries. Otherwise, there won't be enough products to go around by the time retailers open their doors.
"Cultivation needs to be staged at least 10-12 months before you try and get products out," said Bryant Jones, a member of Minnesota's Cannabis Advisory Council who used to be a licensed grower in Massachusetts. "The plant has to be cultivated, processed, tested, packaged, etcetera."
The state currently plans to issue licenses to all types of cannabis businesses — including growers, manufacturers, and retailers — early next year. If growing doesn't start until then, Minnesota might not have a well-supplied market until 2026.
Of the nearly two dozen states that have legalized adult-use cannabis, many have learned the hard way that early demand for legal pot is far greater than supply. That imbalance pushes prices well above black-market levels, which slows legal-market interest among consumers and disrupts the growth of the licensed market meant to serve them.
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