It's an historic day for the City of Anoka on Thursday.
Back in March, their City Council voted 4-1 in favor to break ground on a municipal cannabis dispensary.
"All of us have tried to look at this, you know, take the emotion out of it, take any stigma, take out any of that type of stuff and just say, 'is this something that makes a lot of sense for the City of Anoka?' And I do think this makes a lot of sense," explains Anoka Mayor Erik Skogquist.
Manager of Liquor Operations Kevin Morelli will also be in charge of the dispensary.
"It is part of history. It's what we've talked about around here, what our city leaders were going through back in 1937 and prior to that, deciding if they wanted to get into the liquor business," says Morelli. "So it is pretty similar and exciting."
Tax from the sales at the dispensary will provide the city with extra funding.
"That could be directed to whatever the council sees fit," says Mayor Skogquist. "In the city parks, the city owned golf course, whatever they deem necessary."
Skogquist aslo discussed why he was in favor of this happening.
"We - as a city - can be an example," he adds. "We can show what a positive thing can be, how this can be run well. And so being able to kind of control that and set a good example while also reaping the benefit of the revenue for the citizens to do positive things in the community is multiple reasons why I was in favor of this."
The ribbon cutting will be held Thursday at 1:00 p.m. The Anoka Cannabis Company will be located at 839 East River Road in Anoka, next door to the city-owned Better Values Liquor store.