Minnesota regulators are calling for a one-stop office that would oversee all aspects of hemp and medical marijuana – as as a potential adult-use MJ market.
The office also would oversee the state’s fast-growing CBD market.
A central office, among other things, would help the state deal with unregulated and mislabeled products, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Four Minnesota agencies – the Minnesota Pharmacy Board and the state’s Agriculture, Health and Public Safety departments – requested that an Office of Cannabis Management be created to streamline the process of governing the medical marijuana and CBD industries.
More than 18,000 are enrolled in the state’s MMJ program, a 27% increase from 2018 to 2019.
During the same time period, the number of hemp farmers grew from about 50 to 400.
The number of medical marijuana dispensaries are expected to double in the near future.
That’s because Minnesota last August added chronic pain as a qualifying condition for MMJ.
House Majority Leader Rep. Ryan Winkler, of the Democratic Farmer Labor party, proposed an Office of Cannabis Management as part of a recreational marijuana legalization bill he will introduce in the coming weeks.
If adult-use marijuana is legalized, the office would oversee it as well as medical cannabis and CBD products.
Under Winkler’s plan, however, the hemp program would continue to be regulated by the agriculture department.
