A Minnesota judge ruled on Friday that state officials must hold a cannabis equity pre-licensing lottery after the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) abandoned the process late last year amid legal challenges, the Minnesota Star Tribune reports.
Written into the state’s cannabis legalization law, he pre-licensing lottery was designed to give disadvantaged operators an early start in the industry. But the early lottery was delayed last November due to lawsuits filed by applicants whose applications were denied. Ultimately, OCM officials opted to hold a social equity lottery alongside the state’s general licensing lottery, and the agency started accepting applications for the general licensing period in February.
But Ramsey County Judge Stephen Smith ruled that officials are bound by the law to hold the pre-licensing lottery.
“Canceling the lottery effectively casts aside the significant time and investment 648 qualified applicants put into shoring up their capacity to hit the ground running as a licensee.” — Smith, in the order
OCM Interim Director Eric Taubel told the Star Tribune in a statement that after last week’s ruling, regulators would “seek dismissal of the case on an expedited basis” and that “OCM expects to begin issuing licenses to qualified social equity applicants in