Military veterans and those with prior marijuana convictions make up the largest number of those qualifying for social equity status ahead of getting into the business under Minnesota's legal cannabis law.
As Minnesota's Office of Cannabis Management prepares for its first lottery to distribute licenses to grow, process and sell cannabis, it finally has data on how many people want to get into the new industry and what type of work they want to do. The numbers come via the first round of social equity approvals ahead of the first license lottery that bill sponsors and OCM hope will take place this fall.
By the time the deadline for preapproval license applicants came and went Monday at 11:59 p.m., there were 1,817 applicants for 280 licenses. The OCM will now make sure those applicants meet minimum requirements before sending them into the lottery. How long that review takes is the primary factor on the timing of the lottery, OCM says.
First dibs on licenses go to those who can prove what the state law terms social equity status. These are people who suffered from the policing and prosecution of marijuana crimes when it was illegal, veterans and people who lived in neighborhoods where enforcement was more aggressive.
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