ABOUT US

Quick Links

Our Expertise ➔
Our Priorities ➔
Get Involved ➔

Who We Are

MN Cann is a public interest organization working to shape and advance drug policies that are fair, evidence-based, and grounded in public interest. We act vigilantly to ensure that the reforms and policies enacted in Minnesota are developed based on facts and meaningful public input and implemented fairly, transparently, and in alignment with the communities and objectives they were meant to serve.

We engage in policy advocacy, community engagement, and movement-building to dismantle ineffective drug policies, repair the harms of prohibition, and create a sustainable and just future for cannabis, psychedelics, and beyond.

Our History

MN Cann is built on the foundation of MN is Ready, the groundbreaking campaign and coalition that not only secured the passage of cannabis legalization in Minnesota but also shaped one of the most innovative legalization models in the country.

MN is Ready built public support, facilitated stakeholder engagement, and worked directly with lawmakers to ensure that legalization reflected Minnesota’s priorities and values. The campaign made clear that legalization wasn’t just about ending prohibition—it was about building a fair, community-driven market. The result was a policy framework that creates a level playing field for market participation, maximizes opportunities for small businesses and local economic development, and ensures consumer and public safety objectives are met based on facts, not stigma.

But legalization was just the beginning. Good policies don’t succeed on their own—they require continued advocacy to ensure they are implemented fairly and fulfill their intent. MN Cann was created to carry forward that work, providing the public interest organizing and advocacy, education, and stakeholder engagement infrastructure to defend the progress made and continue advancing cannabis and drug policy reforms that put people and communities first.

Since legalization passed, MN Cann’s leaders and partners have remained deeply involved in the implementation process, helping to shape regulations, advance patient protections, defend equitable market access, and ensure that Minnesota’s cannabis system remains responsive to the communities it was designed to serve.

Our Role & Impact

MN Cann is not an industry association–it’s an advocacy engine built for collective power and action to shape good policies, push back against bad ones, and ensure policymakers and regulators listen and are accountable to the people and communities their decisions impact.

  • We push for bold reforms. We work with legislators to advance criminal justice reforms, expand market access for small businesses, and strengthen consumer and patient protections in cannabis and drug policy.

  • We ensure meaningful stakeholder engagement. We make sure that local stakeholders, industry members, and impacted communities have a real seat at the table in shaping policy.

  • We challenge government overreach. When policymakers or regulators make harmful policy decisions or impose unnecessary barriers to market access, we fight back.

  • We work across policy issues. Our advocacy spans adult-use and medical cannabis, hemp, psychedelics, and broader drug policy reform to ensure Minnesota leads the way in responsible regulation.

  • We act with urgency. Bad policies can take root quickly—we mobilize rapid-response advocacy efforts to stop them before they cause long-term harm.

Our work has already helped shape some of the most significant cannabis policy developments in Minnesota since its legalization in 2023.

  • We hold policy makers to their word. When litigation threatened to undermine the social equity advantages, our team supported efforts to preserve “first mover advantage” for social equity applicants. The successful Qualified Applicants for a Pre-approval Lottery (QAPL) litigation helped to preserve advantages for social equity applicants throughout the approval process, and reinforced the importance of fair implementation.

  • We strengthened protections for medical cannabis patients. Our advocacy has helped secure meaningful improvements for Minnesota medical cannabis patients, including expanded remedies for discrimination, the creation of a visiting patient program that provides access and protection for patients traveling to Minnesota, and expansion of patient access accommodation requirements for health care facilities.

  • We pushed for a more unified cannabis marketplace. Minnesota’s original cannabis legalization framework created separate and duplicative paths for adult use and medical cannabis. Working with patients, businesses, regulators, advocates, legislators, and others, we played a critical role in securing supply chain simplification — creating separation of the two products at sale instead of seed.

As Minnesota’s cannabis industry evolves, MN Cann remains focused on improving implementation, protecting consumers and patients, supporting responsible business development, advancing evidence-based drug policy, and ensuring the public interest remains at the center of policy making.