June 5th is the day for the first Office of Cannabis Management's lottery to award marijuana license distribution.
Hundreds have already applied for cultivator, manufacturer, and social equity retailer licenses.
Office of Cannabis Management director Eric Taubel tells Vineeta Sawkar on the WCCO Morning News that they want to make sure the industry starts off on good footing.
"The limitations are placed in the statute that created the cannabis law, and the idea is in some ways to help ensure that the market sort of doesn't oversaturate too quickly and bottom out in terms of prices," says Taubel.
He says once the market stabilizes, they may have another license lottery, possibly by the end of next year.
This comes nearly two years after state lawmakers voted to legalize marijuana. Taubel says that the process is drawn out for a reason.
"I don't think anything really held up the rollout so much as the reality of building a state agency from the ground up is a time-intensive endeavor," explained Taubel. "And at the same time, it's also a time-intensive endeavor to build an industry from the ground up."
Marijuana distributors have been open since day one on tribal lands, which do not have to wait for completion of the state's licensing process.
The license application lotteries will be livestreamed via the office’s YouTube Channel here. Results will be posted to office's website and shared with applicants after completion.