Yesterday, in the grand American tradition of bungled, cannabis social equity programs, the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) canceled its social equity applicant lottery. In its announcement, OCM pivoted to an early 2025 lottery combining social equity and general applicants.
This development was no real surprise, following a court order delaying the preapproval lottery last month. It’s also no surprise in the very big picture: I’ve said since forever that cannabis lotteries are a bad proposition and states should knock it off. Here we are again, though. To all my fellow Minnesotans– welcome!
We have clients who were selected for the OCM preapproval lottery and others who were not. In all, two-thirds of applicants were denied. Grievances were roundly and rightly aired on social media and elsewhere. The loudest complaints came from applicants who had committed significant, time, energy and capital into a system designed to ameliorate harms caused by marijuana prohibition, but seemed to do the opposite.
Per OCM’s announcement, applicants in the “denial” camp will be allowed to withdraw their applications and request a refund of fees, provided they do so on or before January 10, 2025. These stymied applicants would still be allowed to apply in
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