INITIATIVES

Quick Links

Our Expertise ➔
Our Priorities ➔
Get Involved ➔

Current Initiatives

  • Minnesota's cannabis market cannot succeed if small businesses lack access to fair financing, face unnecessary regulatory barriers, or are forced into predatory business arrangements. The Small Business Protection & Capital Access initiative focuses on developing practical public policy solutions that improve access to capital, strengthen market participation, and create a healthier environment for independent cannabis businesses.

    Current Areas of Focus

    • Developing fair lending standards for financing provided to licensed cannabis businesses.

    • Protecting cannabis entrepreneurs from predatory lending and unfair business practices.

    • Expanding access to responsible financing and capital formation opportunities.

    • Reducing unnecessary regulatory barriers that disproportionately impact small and independent businesses.

    • Supporting long-term market conditions that allow Minnesota-owned cannabis businesses to compete and thrive.

  • A healthy cannabis market requires thoughtful problem solving that responds to changing consumer demand, evolving industry conditions, and implementation challenges. The Market Development & Innovation initiative identifies structural market problems and develops practical policy solutions that improve product availability, strengthen competition, and support a sustainable cannabis marketplace.

    Current Areas of Focus

    • Identifying and addressing product shortages and market inefficiencies.

    • Developing policy solutions that improve product availability while maintaining consumer protections.

    • Evaluating and advocating new product categories and regulatory approaches that better serve consumers and patients.

    • Supporting data-driven market improvements through stakeholder engagement and policy research.

  • Legalization is only meaningful if it is accompanied by laws that respect the rights of responsible adults and continue to eliminate unnecessary criminal penalties. The Cannabis Justice & Civil Liberties initiative identifies laws and policies that continue to criminalize or unfairly burden lawful cannabis use and develops practical reforms that better align Minnesota's legal framework with the intent of legalization.

    Current Areas of Focus

    • Modernizing Minnesota's cannabis possession limits to better reflect lawful adult use and eliminate unnecessary criminal penalties.

    • Addressing outdated laws governing cannabis in motor vehicles to ensure legal consumers are treated fairly and consistently.

    • Identifying and eliminating unintended criminal penalties that remain following legalization.

    • Protecting the civil liberties of cannabis consumers by promoting policies grounded in fairness, public safety, and equal treatment under the law.

  • The Minnesota Medical Cannabis Patient Access initiative works to ensure that patients remain at the center of Minnesota's cannabis policies. As the state's adult-use market continues to evolve, the initiative focuses on protecting patient rights, maintaining affordable access to medicine, and ensuring the medical cannabis program continues to meet the needs of those who rely on it.

    Current Areas of Focus

    • Monitoring implementation of Minnesota's unified cannabis supply chain to ensure patients continue to have reliable access to medical cannabis products.

    • Protecting the tax-free status of medical cannabis.

    • Expanding the definition of medical cannabis to include certain non-intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoid products patients rely on.

    • Supporting thoughtful expansion of Minnesota's medical caregiver cultivation program.

    • Identifying and addressing new barriers to patient access through legislative and regulatory reforms.

    • Evaluating improvements to Minnesota's patient consultation model that strengthen patient care while reducing conflicts of interest and improving access to qualified guidance.

    • Continuing to reduce unnecessary barriers to business participation within Minnesota's medical cannabis program.

Past Initiatives & Accomplishments

  • The Qualified Applicants for a Preapproval Lottery (QAPL) initiative was established to protect the rights of social equity applicants after the Office of Cannabis Management abandoned the preapproval licensing process established by law. Through litigation and public advocacy, the initiative helped secure a settlement that restored meaningful benefits for social equity applicants and reinforced the importance of honoring legislative intent throughout Minnesota's cannabis licensing process.

  • Minnesota's original cannabis framework created separate cultivation, manufacturing, and distribution pathways for medical and adult-use cannabis, creating unnecessary duplication, increasing costs, and limiting patient access.

    Working alongside patients, businesses, legislators, regulators, and other stakeholders, MN Cann helped advance legislation that simplified Minnesota's cannabis supply chain by separating medical and adult-use products at the point of sale rather than throughout production. This reform reduced unnecessary regulatory burdens while protecting patient access and improving market efficiency.

  • MN Cann successfully advanced several significant patient protections designed to strengthen access to medical cannabis and reduce discrimination against registered patients.

    Key accomplishments include:

    • Establishment of Minnesota's visiting patient program.

    • Expansion of healthcare facility accommodation requirements for registered patients.

    • Strengthening legal remedies available to patients experiencing discrimination because of their participation in the medical cannabis program.

    These reforms help ensure patients can access their medicine while maintaining greater legal protections in healthcare and everyday life.