Formal agreements that will allow Minnesota's tribal nations to operate cannabis dispensaries outside of their reservations are imminent according to Governor Tim Walz (DFL).
Walz calls the compacts between 10 of Minnesota's 11 tribal nations the first step in a much broader market that he says is going to be big.
"They're great partners in this," explains the governor. "They know how to do this. Many of them are ahead, obviously, and that's the way it was set up, for them and their sovereignty to be cultivating. So I think we're in good shape and I think they'll be executed in the near future."
Minnesota's legal cannabis market has been slow to roll out, partly due to a lawsuit by social equity applicants who weren't accepted into the initial licensing lottery. New applications will be accepted later this month.
"This was written into the law," says Walz. "They're being carried out. I'm really grateful they're out. I think I don't want to get ahead of them. I think they're very close, and I have spoken with all the tribal nations over the last week in my consultations with the presidents and the councils and the chairs. I think they feel very confident that they're getting there. They're great partners in this."
A new lottery is expected to be held by late spring or early summer.