Shutterstock

Building out the infrastructure needed to support a rising cannabis market in Minnesota is no easy task.

Before the state’s new Office of Cannabis Management begins its rulemaking process, the department has launched a survey to ask for community input.

The survey released earlier this week calls on community members, advocates, and partners who want to help shape how industry rules are drafted. Community members can provide input on concerns and knowledge around cannabis cultivation, processing, and manufacturing.

The department is addressing these specific topics as it looks to launch a new, safe legal market that can meet demand, Charlene Briner, interim director of the Office of Cannabis Management, said in a news release announcing the survey.

“There is a high level of interest in the new cannabis law, and significant expertise that exists among Minnesotans, and we want to tap into as much of that knowledge as possible from the very start,” she said.

In the coming months, the office will also offer opportunities to be involved in rulemaking through in-person and virtual meetings, the release states. There will be a formal public comment period once a draft of the rules is proposed.

It is likely Minnesotans won’t see dispensaries open until 2025, with the exception of recreational dispensaries on the Red Lake Nation and White Earth reservations.

There are many steps in the interim to create the structure of the new industry. Among those steps, Gov. Tim Walz still needs to name a full-time director of the Office of Cannabis Management after the first director he named, Erin DuPree, declined to take the position after it was discovered her store was selling THC products that were out of compliance with Minnesota law.