Supply Bottlenecks Stall Minnesota’s Adult-Use Cannabis Launch

MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota’s adult-use Cannabis sector kicked off with fanfare, but operators on the ground report bare shelves and mounting bills as wholesale supplies fail to keep pace with licensed retail outlets.

The Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) has greenlit 61 Cannabis enterprises to date, with retailers comprising about two-thirds of that total, roughly 40 storefronts statewide. Yet only four wholesalers hold approval to distribute: the White Earth Nation and Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, plus the medical incumbents RISE and Green Goods. White Earth, under a compact inked with the state in May 2025, began deliveries to its first retail partner in Duluth last month. But broader transfers to non-tribal licensees remain stalled by compliance snags with Metrc, the seed-to-sale tracking system mandated for all operations.

This gap stems from a deliberate sequence in Minnesota’s 2023 legalization law, which prioritized retail licensing to curb illicit sales while cultivators build out. The OCM issued 37 business permits over the summer, including 23 for retailers, accelerating access points before growers could scale.

Critics, including small-business advocates, argue the approach risks consolidating power among established players. Medical providers like RISE already command 70% of early recreational volume, per industry trackers, leaving independents to scrape by on margins under 10% from non-Сannabis sales.

Minnesota, with its almost 5.8 million residents and projected $430 million market by 2026, stands to lose ground if cultivators, still numbering fewer than a dozen, don’t ramp up soon. Legislative tweaks, such as expedited grow approvals or interim imports, could bridge the divide, but none appear on the horizon before 2026 session.