Woodbury’s Green Goods dispensary joined 12 other non-tribal Minnesota outlets last week as the first-ever licensed to add adult-use recreational marijuana to their medical inventories.

The Woodbury location at 803 Bielenberg Drive, in Tamarack Hills, is one of eight Green Goods dispensaries in Minnesota, with others in  Minneapolis, Blaine, Bloomington, Burnsville, Duluth, Moorhead, and Rochester. The company also has outlets in Maryland.

The state’s other non-Tribal previously medical-only dispensary provider, RISE Dispensaries, was also granted a license to add adult-use recreational marijuana to its product lineup.

RISE operates dispensaries in Eagan, Brooklyn Park, New Hope, Mankato and Willmar, and in 13 other states.

The Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management issued the licenses Sept. 15, allowing Green Goods and RISE to convert up to one-third of their medical inventories to adult-use recreational products.

Minnesota officially legalized recreational cannabis on Aug. 1, 2023. 

The first sales of tribally grown cannabis flower from a state-licensed business was celebrated Sept. 16 at Duluth’s Legacy Cannabis – a licensed microbusiness – at 4:20 p.m. The expression “4:20” is a longtime code word among marijuana users.

Legacy Cannabis is partnered with Minnesota’s White Earth Nation, one of two tribes, including the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, now covered by compacts to work with state-licensed retail businesses.

Green Goods’ and RISE’s first adult-use recreational cannabis sales began Sept. 17 at all locations.

Amber Shimpa, president of Green Goods’ parent company, Verio Growth, said: “Yesterday was a historic day for us and the state of Minnesota launching adult-use cannabis. We have been at this now for over 10 years and were the first company to serve medical cannabis patients, dispensing the first three patients in the state on July 1 of 2015.”

OCM Executive Director Eric Taubel added in a statement announcing the new licenses: “I look forward to seeing the market mature over the next few years as we continue to prioritize public health and safety, consumer confidence, and market integrity.”

‘Continuous access’

The new licenses also allow Green Goods and RISE to sell wholesale to other licensed dispensaries in Minnesota.

Taubel noted that state law requires medical cannabis providers to serve their patients with “continuous, uninterrupted access” to their prescribed marijuana products.

“As the medical cannabis dispensaries transition to serving both medical patients and adult-use customers, we will closely monitor product levels to ensure they comply with this requirement,” Taubel said.

An estimated 59,000-plus Minnesotans participate in the state’s medical cannabis program, equivalent to about 1% of residents of the state.

The OCM also announced Sept. 15 that it has issued its first cannabis event-organizer license to Legacy Cup, an annual Minnesota “tradition of music, culture and art” since 2019. 

This year’s Legacy Cup is scheduled for Sept. 27 at Surly Brewing Festival Field in Minneapolis.

The OCM’s new application window for cannabis-event licenses started on Aug. 1 and is open-ended, with applications accepted on a rolling basis. 

Those licenses authorize the holder to plan and host temporary cannabis-related events in Minnesota that feature on-site sale and use of adult-use cannabis products, lower-potency hemp edibles and hemp-derived consumer products.

According to OCM figures, Minnesota has issued 37 cannabis business licenses since 2018, including 23 to microbusinesses with plans to conduct retail cannabis sales.

Among Minnesota’s adult-use recreational cannabis restrictions:

• Buyers must show proof that they are at least 21 years old.
• Two ounces or less of cannabis flower can be possessed in public.
• Two pounds or less of flower marijuana can be kept in a private residence.
• It is illegal to transport cannabis purchased at a licensed Minnesota dispensary across state lines. It is not illegal, however, to cross into Minnesota from other states to buy adult-use recreational cannabis at a licensed dispensary.
• Smoking marijuana in public spaces is prohibited by the  Minnesota Clean Indoor Air Act, while certain local ordinances also restrict it in places like public parks, businesses, and vehicles.