Minnesota’s New Cannabis and Hemp Laws

Minnesota continues to refine its cannabis framework with an Omnibus Cannabis Bill affecting licensed cannabis (marijuana) businesses, hemp operators and medical patients. The new package was signed by Governor Waltz last week. Some of the changes are effective immediately, while others take effect January 1, 2027.

It’s common for state cannabis programs to evolve through annual legislation and rulemaking. The changes are often dramatic in the handful of years following program launch. Here, the package was described as “maintenance” by State Rep. Jessican Hanson, but we view it as very impactful. Minnesota’s new cannabis legislation concerns access, licensing, distribution, and product standards in ways that should matter to both hemp and cannabis operators.

If you’d like to review the new legislation, you can find the Omnibus Cannabis Bill here. Note: it’s a lot of reading! New text is underlined, and you’ll find removed sections of existing laws shown  in strike-through.

If you’d rather skip that painful reading, here is a high-level summary, broken into bullet points where possible for readability:

Unified supply chain

The new law eliminates the requirement to maintain separate medical and adult-use supply chains for licensees in CTS. Businesses with a medical endorsement may now operate under a single cultivation, manufacturing, and inventory system, including unified tracking within Metrc. This change is intended to reduce operational inefficiencies while preserving patient access.

Every state that has rolled out an adult-use program following a medical marijuana program has merged supply chains to some extent. Here, Minnesota follows suit.

Medical market safeguards

These safeguards tie into the program “merger” to some extent. To ensure continuity of care, the law imposes new obligations on medical-endorsed businesses. These include:

• Employment of a licensed pharmacist or medical cannabis consultant
• Priority service measures for patients (e.g., dedicated lines, curbside pickup, advance ordering)
• Mandatory stocking of products identified as high medical need
• A 24-hour fulfillment expectation for patient requests across the market

Note: certain medical products are exempt from adult-use potency limits, and hemp-derived cannabinoids are permitted in medical formulations.

New macrobusiness license (Effective Jan. 1, 2027)

The existing medical cannabis combination business license will sunset. In its place, the legislation rolls out a “macrobusiness” license, featuring:

• Up to 38,000 square feet of indoor canopy (reduced dramatically, from 90,000)
• Up to eight retail locations, with location requirements tied to high-need areas
• A statewide cap of eight licenses until January 1, 2030

Existing medical licensees must convert to microbusiness licensure by January 1, 2027. Incremental canopy increases are available over time for compliant operators. The law also introduces a petition process for smaller businesses seeking to move into higher license tiers.

Incentives for licensees with medical endorsements

Operators with medical cannabis endorsements receive meaningful benefits:

• Expanded cultivation limits for micro, mezzo, and cultivation licensees
• Additional retail locations in designated high-need areas
• Authority to deliver directly to patients and caregivers
• Expanded transport rights for certain license types

In exchange, a portion of increased production must be supplied to other medical-endorsed businesses.

Hemp industry transition

In advance of the federal re-definition of “hemp” effective November 12, 2026, the law allows dual licensure for hemp and cannabis businesses, enabling hemp operators to transition into the regulated cannabis market. It also authorizes new “ratio hemp-infused cannabis products” within defined cannabinoid limits, as follows:

• containing no more than 100 milligrams of certain cannabinoids (CBD, CBG, CBN, or CBC) per serving.
• containing a maximum of 10 milligrams of THC per serving.
• containing 200 milligrams of THC per package for edibles (or two servings per container for beverages).

Reporting and oversight changes

The Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) will transition to a streamlined, bifurcated reporting structure consisting of an annual market analysis, and a consolidated legislative report due annually, by January 15.

The revised framework attempts to prioritize public health, safety, and market data, while reducing prior reporting burdens.

Additional regulatory updates

Again, the law is expansive and contains myriad changes. Here are some of additional highlights on our review:

• Local governments must adopt reasonable cannabis regulations (which is great!) and apply population-based licensing thresholds using upward rounding.
• OCM gains expanded authority to deny or revoke licenses and enforce compliance.
• Preliminary license approvals now include mandatory extension rights.
• Social equity applicants may hold up to four licenses with capped ownership stakes.
• Compliant cannabis and hemp activities are expressly protected under state law.

Timeline and next steps

Most provisions of the new law take effect soon—on August 1, 2026. The macrobusiness framework becomes effective January 1, 2027, as noted above.

All Minnesota cannabis businesses—particularly those with or considering medical endorsements—should evaluate operational, licensing, and compliance impacts now. Hemp operators face a more immediate decision window given the November 2026 federal deadline, as we’ve repeatedly explained in our hemp-related blog posts.

Contact us if you have any questions on what these changes mean for your Minnesota cannabis business!

The post Minnesota’s New Cannabis and Hemp Laws appeared first on Harris Sliwoski LLP.

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