The Land of 10,000 Strains: Discussing The State of Cannabis in Minnesota with Blunt Strategies

While the average cannabis enthusiast usually wouldn’t immediately associate cannabis with the state of Minnesota, The Land of 10,000 Lakes actually has quite a progressive history compared to its neighboring states. The state decriminalized possession of small amounts of cannabis all the way back in 1976, long before many other states would. Jesse Ventura, Navy veteran and the 38th Governor of Minnesota, has used his platform to advocate for legalization in the state. His influence and passionate testimony to the Minnesota Legislature may have been quite pivotal, as Governor Tim Walz signed House Bill 100 into law on May 30, 2023. With that, recreational cannabis became legal in Minnesota. 

To get a better understanding of the state of the Minnesota industry in the 18 months since HB 100 was signed into law, mycannabis.com had the pleasure of speaking with Laura Monn Ginsburg and Leili Fatehi, Partners and Principals at Blunt Strategies, Minnesota’s “first cannabis government relations and policy consultancy” firm.

How did Blunt Strategies come into creation, and what were some crucial moments that led to its creation?

Fatehi: Laura and I were already in business together. We have a political consultancy business and we’ve done strategies and campaigns. We had been in business a few years when Governor Walz was elected in Minnesota on a platform of supporting cannabis legalization. We’ve been longtime cannabis enthusiasts and we like taking on difficult campaigns and issues where there’s a significant nexus to creating opportunity and restoring justice.

It was a natural fit for us just to say that the time is right to build on Minnesota’s very long legacy of grassroots advocacy for legalization by putting in the infrastructure to get it done.

Ginsburg: Unfortunately in Minnesota, we don’t have ballot initiatives in Minnesota. This meant we had to go through the legislative process in order to make legalization actually happen. Legalization had certainly been a long time coming, with decades and decades of great grassroots advocacy. We’re obviously an agricultural state with a long history of hemp and folks that were interested in this as an agricultural product. 

Where we were able to bring something a little different was this background in politics and seeing the path through the legislative process and to the governor’s desk.            

Fatehi: Blunt Strategies itself was formed in 2018, and it was contemporaneous with when we launched the MN is Ready effort to bring legalization. We decided since we were focused on creating a fundamentally different type of cannabis market in Minnesota, one that prioritized local and smaller businesses, that we should also begin forming a strategic consultancy to provide the support that industry would need to then be successful. 

Prior to the formation of Blunt Strategies, what were the most common or troublesome problems that cannabis companies in Minnesota were going through?

Fatehi: Before Blunt Strategies existed, there were only two cannabis companies in Minnesota. Those were two medical companies that existed by virtue of a state duopoly. So, I don’t know what their problems were, but they had a 10-year window for becoming the industry incumbent. Blunt Strategies came to be contemporaneous with when after all the cannabis companies came to be in 2018 with the industrial hemp bill and we started having hemp businesses pop up. A lot of business owners saw that as the expanded adult use market, and some who were living in an agricultural state and interested in hemp. 

How does Blunt Strategies stay true to its description of “leading catalyst at the epicenter of building Minnesota’s cannabis policies and industry”? I noticed that the company was incredibly influential in the MN is Ready campaign.

Fatehi: We led the MN is Ready campaign. It was our project we did pro bono to get an industry that we could then work in and be proud of. We’re a mission-based business, and we were successful in getting legalization. We work every single day as advocates to ensure that the industry has what it needs to get set up and we are continuing to do what ensures a successful roll-out of this industry. 

When we’re working with businesses, they understand that they’re not hiring Blunt Strategies as a “gun for hire”. If you’re working with us, it’s as part of this ecosystem of local businesses that are committed to setting up a local thriving industry. 

Ginsburg: When we got started with Blunt Strategies, it was obviously a very interesting time in the cannabis industry in Minnesota, and one of the main ways that we started connecting with folks and building the brand and getting our name out there was building community and educational events. We did a whole lunch and learn series, and education has continued to be a mainstay in what we see as a cornerstone of our business and our advocacy in this space. 

We have a weekly Substack that goes out called The Pre-Roll, where we offer insights and news roundups and take a perspective on what’s happening. We continue to be education-first when working with clients because we’re not here to dominate a market. We’re here to make sure the market continues to thrive and evolve the way we know it can. 

We’re really in this business for the reason to make sure that the industry continues down this great path and that we’re continuing keeping the promise to ourselves and our businesses that they’re set up for success. 

Now that cannabis is recreationally legal in Minnesota, what are some of the most common issues that clients face?             

Fatehi: We’re in the very early phases of the market rollout there, and a lot of them are similar challenges. Access to capital, finding a location and needing to engage with the local government to ensure zoning.

Minnesota is a small business environment. It’s a lot of working with people to understand their risk tolerance. What do they hope for in terms of their business, and ensuring they have the relationships and connections and collaborations they need. Sometimes, we also have to give them difficult advice and tell them that this might not be the right industry.    

As Minnesota begins licensing, we’re going to deal with the same challenges that every other state does. Lawsuits, injunctions, and planning for them.   

Ginsburg: I’m a born and bred Minnesotan. I’ve never lived anywhere else, and Minnesota exceptionalism is real. To that end, it is a unique market space. We did things in a different order than some people. We had a terrible medical program by design, we legalized hemp-derived THC beverages and edibles before we got to recreational adult-use, which is backwards of how most other states have done it. 

So, we have an incumbent market, even though we haven’t fully stood up the fully legal recreational side yet. It’s definitely something where you have to be committed to keeping up with the chaos. 

How strict are the regulations surrounding cannabis marketing and advertising in Minnesota? Compared to other states, would Minnesota cannabis professionals consider them strict or lenient?

Fatehi: The overall ethos for regulation in Minnesota is that we regulate for risk and not for stigma. In that sense, we think Minnesota is taking a very nice approach to regulating. Specific to advertising and marketing, the local industry has been very much on board with focusing on things such as not marketing to children and other vulnerable populations as well as providing clear guidance on what is and isn’t allowed.  

I would say that Minnesota is on the more reasonable end of the spectrum when it comes to regulations at large, including in advertising and marketing. The focus is on ensuring that marketing and advertising is accurate and that no one is marketing to children.

Ginsburg: When we compare to other states, Minnesota has tried to be not overly convoluted in its prescription of some regulations. They try to keep some balance so that businesses can do business just as much as we need to be responsible without being fearful.

 Leili and I are cannabis consumers, and we’re both moms. We’re responsible parents and we don’t want our kids smoking weed either. 

From your collective experiences working with clients in the Minnesota cannabis industry, what advantages does the Minnesota industry hold over other state industries? Does the young age of the industry in comparison to other states and the isolated location among prohibitionist states be an advantage for the Land of 10,000 Lakes?

Fatehi: The geographic location will be an advantage. We have states around us that haven’t legalized, so they are going to be coming to Minnesota to take advantage when our very vibrant adult-use market opens. I think that Minnesota offers a uniquely collaborative and innovative market because the emphasis is on smaller businesses. The laws are designed to encourage collaboration between industry members, so there’s a lot of opportunity for bringing innovative business and brand ideas.          

We have a lot of women-owned and culturally informed businesses that are creating products that are inspired by their cultural backgrounds.   

Ginsburg: It’s funny to think about the fact that the only entity we border that has legal cannabis is Canada. Geographically, we’re sequestered and we have this great opportunity to continue to be a bastion of cannabis on the North Coast. Our work in all of this is to foster that craft cannabis industry that is by and for Minnesotans. We see that continuing to expand and if we all do our collective jobs right, that should continue to put us on the map.

Conversely, what are some great disadvantages or other commonly occurring problems that the Minnesota industry frequently still has to deal with? 

Ginsburg: You can look back at the states that have legalized and there’s always different challenges when you legalize through a legislative approach versus a vote initiative. It’s always going to be different about how quick it is to market. There’s trade-offs of course though. We are optimistic and excited about the hurdles because we see them as a positive in building and following through on this promise of the industry that we have.   

It makes things different. And that’s going to make some people ornery, because it slows down the way they want it to go. But we also don’t want to be a state like Oklahoma where they went as fast to market as they could and completely collapsed under the weight of opening the gates so big and so fast. 

If federal rescheduling from Schedule I to Schedule III were to eventually happen, how would that impact the Minnesota cannabis industry?    

Fatehi: It would ease up access to banking, capital and insurance. It’ll help with tax-related issues and create additional avenues to expand into interstate commerce. At the same time, rescheduling isn’t a cure-all and can create competitive challenges for newer businesses. In Minnesota, this has been part of the thinking with smaller, more sustainable local markets. Our hope is that it helps and allows our businesses to allow themselves the benefits of rescheduling and to have some protection against what some of the risks may be. 

Thank you for joining us, Laura and Leili! To stay updated on the very important work of Blunt Strategies, please follow its website.