Minnesota Cannabis Sales Top $250 Million in First Adult-Use Year

Minnesotans purchased more than $250 million in combined adult-use and medical cannabis products during the first year of legal sales at state-licensed businesses, the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management said in a September 15, 2026, news release marking one year since the statewide launch of the adult-use market.

State-licensed businesses across Minnesota began retail sales of adult-use cannabis on September 16, 2025. Cannabis retail sales had begun earlier on Tribally regulated lands, shortly after passage of the original cannabis bill in August 2023, according to the office. Over the last year, consumers and patients purchased approximately $150 million in adult-use cannabis products and $100 million in medical cannabis products, the office said.

Combined with sales of lower-potency hemp edibles and beverages, that activity generated $45.6 million in state tax revenue for the 10-month period from September 2025 through July 2026, the latest figures available from the Minnesota Department of Revenue, according to the release. Sales of lower-potency hemp products are not required to be tracked in the state’s seed-to-sale monitoring system, so sales figures for those products are not available.

“After visiting with business owners, local officials and community members around the state this year, I am more enthusiastic than ever about how Minnesota’s cannabis market is taking shape,” said OCM Executive Director Eric Taubel. Taubel said more than 300 new cannabis businesses have launched in the last year, bringing new jobs and opportunities, and said the office is building a sustainable market that supports businesses along the supply chain. Minnesota has 369 licensed cannabis businesses.

Social Equity Ownership and Grant Programs

The Minnesota Legislature charged the state with building a cannabis market that lifts up small, craft businesses and centers on social equity and redressing harms caused by the enforcement of prior cannabis laws. According to the office, 43% of Minnesota’s 369 licensed cannabis businesses are owned by verified social equity applicants, and 86% of business licenses issued in the four license types the Legislature limited in number (cannabis cultivators, mezzobusinesses, manufacturers and retailers) have gone to verified social equity businesses. Nearly three-quarters of license holders endorsed for cultivation activities are microbusinesses, the state’s smallest license type.

OCM’s Division of Community and Economic Development led a series of events featuring expert panel discussions and technical support for verified social equity applicants, community-based organizations, technical assistance partners and local government representatives. The sessions served more than 250 participants, and participants reported increased readiness in both business skills and regulatory understanding after attending, according to the office, which said it will expand the series in the coming year.

In the first year of CanRenew community restoration grant funding, announced in August 2025, the state awarded grants to 12 organizations totaling $1 million. Grantees across the Twin Cities metro area, Virginia, Owatonna and Bemidji ran seven projects serving youth, three projects supporting jobseekers and entrepreneurs, one community arts project and one project supporting housing stability. More than 350 individuals were directly served by CanRenew projects, with a reach of more than 2,500 people through broader education, outreach and awareness activities, the office said. For the program’s second year, OCM received 145 proposals requesting more than $55.9 million.

In CanGrow’s first funding round, announced in April 2026, the office awarded four organizations $50,000 each in training grants covering compliance training, education, business planning, mentorship, and assistance with legal and environmental concerns. One of those organizations also received a CanGrow loan grant of $382,910 to administer loans to individual farmers seeking to expand or enter the cannabis space, with engagement focused on the Northeast and Northwest regions of the state.

“Our success in this work won’t be measured in license numbers—we want to see legalization create opportunity that lasts for generations,” said Jess Jackson, OCM’s director of community and economic development.

OCM’s customer service team fielded nearly 11,000 emails and phone calls over the last year, and the office’s public outreach team and leadership attended or hosted more than 60 community events, including five stops on its Connecting with Community Listening Tour and five meetings with the Cannabis Advisory Council.

Inspections, Cultivation and Tribal Partnerships

OCM’s compliance and enforcement team conducted approximately 3,000 pre-licensure, routine and regulatory inspections of businesses. The office licensed 95 new cultivators in June, July and August, a group it said represents 60% of all businesses currently engaged in cultivating cannabis.

The number of cannabis plants in the state’s tracking system rose 575% over the last 12 months, from 11 license holders with 72,083 plants in inventory to 102 license holders with 486,720 plants, the office said. OCM said the increase in licensed cultivators and active plants will translate to greater availability of cannabis flower and other products this fall, as manufacturers begin converting flower into concentrates for edibles and inhalable products such as vapes.

Between May 2025 and March 2026, the state entered into intergovernmental agreements, including cannabis compacts and a cooperative agreement, with nine of the 11 federally recognized Tribal Nations sharing territory with Minnesota. The office said those agreements led to partnerships between Tribal Nations and state-licensed businesses that supplied retail shelves during the early stages of the market launch, and that many state-licensed businesses would not have had access to cannabis products to retail without them.

Minnesota’s medical cannabis program has more than 90,000 registered patients who use cannabis to manage symptoms of conditions including chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, cancer, epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease. Enrollment has more than doubled from just over 41,000 since the Legislature eliminated patient fees in 2023 and expanded qualifying conditions in 2024, the office said, noting that most states see medical cannabis enrollment decrease following the legalization of adult-use cannabis.

The release also described a change to the federal definition of hemp set to take effect in December. In November 2025, President Trump signed a federal spending bill that changed the definition of hemp, effectively banning hemp-derived products containing more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per package unless additional federal action occurs. OCM said the federal change does not alter how Minnesota law defines lower-potency hemp edible products or the legality of those products in the state, and that it has provided operators with options for aligning their business plans and license status with the anticipated federal changes.

The office said it will host a resource and hiring fair on October 22, 2026, highlighting grantee progress, investment impacts, workforce development opportunities and resources for communities preparing to participate in the industry. Preparations are also underway to implement legislative changes beginning January 1, 2027, to streamline the medical and adult-use cannabis supply chains and change the event organizer license type. The announcement followed the office’s release earlier in September of a report on patients’ use of medical cannabis to relieve symptoms associated with cancer, and reports on the use of medical cannabis for autism spectrum disorder and terminal illnesses are due later this fall, the office said.