A dozen companies have applied to grow and distribute marijuana in Minnesota next year.
Friday was the deadline to submit an application -- and a $20,000 nonrefundable application fee -- to the Minnesota Department of Health. Twenty-nine aspiring entrepreneurs had expressed interest in the job, but in the end, fewer than half followed through before the afternoon deadline.
The state's new Office of Medical Cannabis will sift through those applications and by Dec. 1, the Health Commissioner will name just two companies to supply the entire state.
Minnesota's first two marijuana manufacturers will have half a year to get an entire industry up and running -- an industry still illegal on the federal level and in neighboring states. The state will be scrutinizing the applications in search of applicants with a great deal of money, a great deal of business experience and detailed business plans ready to go.
The identities of the applicants will not be known until the Health Department makes its final choice. But several applicants have already reached out to the communities where they hope to set up shop. Members of the Bachman family of florists have launched LeafLine Labs and teamed up with the city of Cottage Grove to stake out space in a local office park where they could begin manufacturing -- if they're one of the chosen manufacturers.
The manufacturers will be responsible for setting up eight retail sites around the state where patients with certain medical conditions will be able to buy marijuana legally, starting in July 2015. Where those shops will be located, how much they'll charge for the drug and how many patients will line up to buy are just a few of the uncertainties the state faces.
The Health Department just raked in $240,000 from application fees. State lawmakers were expecting about five applications, according to the fiscal note attached to the legislation when it passed.
As it prepares to legalize medical marijuana, the state is also preparing to study its effects.
