CHRONICLING LEGAL CANNABIS IN MINNESOTA
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CHRONICLING LEGAL
CANNABIS IN MINNESOTA
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HOW THE LEGACY CUP BECAME MINNESOTA'S BIGGEST CANNABIS BASH |
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Imagine if you will … you’re attending a large, outdoor concert with 10,000 others on an unseasonably hot and humid late-September day. All around you, people are openly smoking and vaping cannabis. There’s even a consumption tent, where a comically oversized novelty glass pipe packed with a small mountain of ground marijuana is being passed around to anyone bold enough to take a puff. You’re thirsty and you notice that THC seltzers and sodas are flowing freely, but there isn’t a single drop of alcohol available for purchase on the entire premises.
Are you in the Twilight Zone?
No. This actually was the scene at the Legacy Cup, held at Surly Field in Minneapolis on Sept. 30. Headlined by 1990s hip-hop legends the Pharcyde and hosted by Slug of Atmosphere, the sprawling celebration of legal cannabis featured 142 vendors — 135 of which were based in Minnesota — the consumption lounge, educational programming, a charity silent auction and a cannabis competition for commercial and homegrown products.
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An enormous pipe was passed around in the Legacy Cup’s consumption lounge. - Matt DeLong, Star Tribune
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Organizer Josh Wilken-Simon, the 35-year-old owner of Legacy Glassworks, a glass pipe gallery and head shop with locations in Minneapolis and Duluth, said the decision not to allow alcohol sales at the Legacy Cup was deliberate — even if it wasn’t required by law, at least for now.
“I could have had alcohol sales,” Wilken-Simon said. “Once the Office of Cannabis Management is issuing cannabis event organizer licenses, part of that license is no alcohol. I wanted to show the city, the county, the state that I can throw a responsible event. Even though I’m not required to follow these rules, I’m already following the rules.”
He credited that decision for setting the stage for a peaceful day.
“The only security incident during the entire event was someone hopping the fence to get in,” Wilken-Simon said. “And they had a ticket. They didn’t want to wait in the line.”
Born in 2019 after the federal farm bill legalized hemp products, the Legacy Cup has rapidly grown from a modest gathering of a few hundred of the state’s hemp and CBD entrepreneurs and enthusiasts into Minnesota’s premier pot festival, with attendance topping 10,000 this year. A sister event, Northern Haze, debuted earlier this summer in Duluth’s Bayfront Festival Park.
Wilken-Simon said a number of his competitors in the cannabis business played key roles in producing the Legacy Cup. Jamie Croyle, owner of House of Oilworx in Anoka, organized a silent auction benefiting the Last Prisoner Project, which advocates for the release of prisoners convicted of nonviolent cannabis crimes. Veronika Alfaro, CEO of Mi Sota Essence, recruited the food vendors, ensuring the event had a diverse set of food truck operators. And Beecher Vaillancourt, a former concert promoter who owns multiple cannabis brands including Foundry Nation and Global Organic, helped book the Pharcyde and worked on stage management.
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Slimkid3, left, and Fatlip, heaving a huge inflatable joint into the crowd, performed during the Pharcyde’s set. - Matt DeLong, Star Tribune
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In a recent interview in the basement of his flagship glass shop in Minneapolis’ Lyn-Lake neighborhood, Wilken-Simon discussed the origins of the Legacy Cup and where he hopes to take it in the future.
How did the Legacy Cup start?
It started in 2019. We had passed the [federal] Farm Bill, so we had legalized hemp products, from smokable CBD flower, to CBD tinctures and topicals. I knew that I wanted to, in a post-[recreational cannabis] landscape, have an event like you were able to go to last weekend. Even at the time, the 2019 Cup was amazing. It was a few hundred people, but it was people in the CBD and hemp community and everyone had a blast, coming together and still doing the Cup part of it, the friendly cannabis competition. I tried to lean in to what a traditional event in a legal state would look like, but doing it legally. We still had the “biggest bong hit” competition, but it was with hemp flower. The joint-rolling competition was with CBD flower.
How has it changed over the years?
Last year’s Cup was huge also because we had legalized low potency [edibles]. Now we could have the THC beverages, THC gummies, the chocolate and all that. This year was obviously way different, having a homegrown weed and homegrown hash category, having the full legal consumption space.
How has attendance grown?
The first year was a couple hundred people. Last year, we had between 5,000 and 6,000 people. This year, it was between 10,000 and 11,000 people, so almost double. I was blown away by the attendance. To see the community come out was just incredible.
What does the future hold for the event?
I hope to be at Surly again next year. They’ve been really good partners. Assuming I can get a cannabis event organizer license, I would be able to invite licensed dispensaries to come out and have a place to legally sell their cannabis products that isn’t just in their brick and mortar. Once we have all our growers and extractors licensed and online, then I can continue to have more categories of Minnesota legal flower and hash. This year we did the silent auction, with every penny going to the Last Prisoner Project, which is an amazing national organization trying to make sure no one around the country is in jail for anything cannabis-related that’s nonviolent. I’d like to have a bigger emphasis on that. I’d love to expand on the live art. The event is gonna get more fun every year.
We’ll have more from our interview about Wilken-Simon’s main business, Legacy Glassworks, a little later.
Did you miss last week's Nuggets? Read it here.
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Cannabis facility planned for former timber mill in northern Minnesota — with $20M in public funding |
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Minnesota's THC beverage market moves beyond seltzers (Axios) - Read more.
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Canadian cannabis market struggles five years after legalization (BBC) - Read more.
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Kansas City Fed says states with legal pot see economic boost, increased social costs (Marijuana Moment) - Read more.
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Oct. 21-22: Superior Genetics Harvest Festival - “A collective of international artists spanning generations, genres, and geographical borders, including Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry band Subatomic Sound System + Screechy Dan, King Shiloh + Red Lion, plus local Minneapolis mainstays Frogleg, Sean Anonymous, and many others.” Superior Genetics, 4419 Nicollet Av. S., Ste. A, Minneapolis. - Tickets available at superiorgeneticsmn.com.
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David from West St. Paul shared this photo of his Cookie Truffle Shuffle plant from Growcast Seed Co., on day 61 of flower. It was grown in soil with organic nutrients in a 4-foot by 4-foot bed and harvested two days later, he said.
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Owner, Legacy Glassworks in Minneapolis and Duluth
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How did you get started selling glass pipes?
My cousin is a very talented glassblower, that’s where I really started getting into the glass blowing scene. I started in 2009 by taking his pipes and going to music festivals. It sounds corny, but it was like spreading happiness, locally made pipes at a good price, and how stoked people were.
How did that turn into Legacy Glassworks?
I wanted to finish my senior year at Hamline and there are no music festivals in the winter. I had made enough money at the music festivals that my cousin was able to quit the glassblowing studio he worked for that was wholesaling around the country. We opened up our own studio for him in Lowertown.
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I did a little bit of the wholesaling, and that’s where I found out that 99% of pipes sold in the U.S. are made in China and India. The shops are getting them for 30, 40, 50 cents a pipe and selling them for 20, 25 bucks. That is obviously a price that is not anywhere close to what I could do. I got real discouraged because no one would buy the pipes wholesale because they couldn’t understand the difference between a pipe made in China and a locally made pipe. There’s the thickness and the artistic quality behind it. That’s when I knew I needed to open my own shop.
As soon as I graduated I moved to Duluth and opened a small 500-square-foot shop with no money. No one would give me loans. In 2016, we opened down here [in Lyn-Lake], which is really the destination gallery, where we have the full studio. I’ve been screaming from the rooftops, “We don’t sell imports. These are locally made. Support local glass blowers.” Now I can show people we’re literally making pipes in the back.
How has the glassblowing scene in Minnesota evolved since then?
We’re the only shop in the state that doesn’t sell any of the Chinese or Indian imports. When I started in Duluth there were six or seven people that blew glass seriously and were making pipes in the entire state. Now we have 94 just in our shop.
Are all of your pipes locally made?
We have 94 glassblowers from Minnesota, and then we have about 150 from around the country. But I only work with artists that I’ve at least met and know personally.
I noticed some very expensive pipes on your shelves. What is the market like for glass pipes that cost thousands of dollars?
It’s a niche market but there’s a very vibrant modern art movement for pipes. There’s people out there making quarter-million dollar, half-million dollar pipes. We have something for everybody, but we’re one of a handful of galleries across the world that specializes in high-end.
Obviously you have to have the money to be able to afford those types of things. Often these are people that have had, or currently have, successful cannabis brands in a legal state, where they’re actually making some really good money. We’re slowly starting to see, post-legalization, doctors, lawyers, people that have a normal job and are doing well for themselves slowly coming into this high-end market. That’s what I’m really optimistic for in the future. For years, those people have been smoking out of metal [pipes] in their garage, hiding it from their family and friends. But now that it’s become legal and more accepted, they just spent $10,000 on a watch or an end table, so what’s a $10,000 pipe? We’re slowly starting to see that grow.
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This handblown glass pipe made by artists Disk and Mike Luna recently sold for $30,000 at Legacy Glassworks. - Matt DeLong, Star Tribune
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You host gallery shows in the shop?
We do a lot of gallery shows, like a classic New York art opening but for pipes. We’ll do a big local artist or we’ll do big artists across the country. Fly them into town, often have them teach an advanced glassblowing class in our studio and then do a classic gallery show where they’ve been working, sometimes, six, eight, nine months just for a body of work to present all at one time at the gallery.
How has your business changed since Aug. 1?
We were able to start selling [cannabis] seeds. There’s a lot of interest in that. The tricky thing now is, legally I can only buy from people that have the specific Minnesota seed labeler’s license. There’s a lot of local genetics that I want to get, but they don’t have that license. There’s a lot of people around the country that I want to get, but they don’t have that license. I do everything by the book, so I’m requiring everyone to show me a license. Then we started selling basic grow equipment. Since Aug. 1, sales have been amazing.
What do you see for the future of your business?
We’re currently closing our downtown Duluth shop. We’re going to re-open and rebrand as Legacy Cannabis in the Lincoln Park Craft District, right near Bent Paddle [Brewing Co.]. It’s a really awesome area filled with cool local businesses. So that store will be set up with a dispensary vibe, with a massive selection of local, low-potency edibles and beverages, seeds and grow equipment. But the local pipes are where my heart is, so we’ll still have a huge selection. And then in Woodbury, we’re going to have our third location, and that’ll be Legacy Cannabis also. I’m excited to be able to bring our local pipes and our large selection of low-potency products out to the suburbs.
Do you want to become a full-blown dispensary?
Yes. It’s going to be a competitive license process, so I can’t predict the future. But I’ve been working since I first opened in 2010 to position myself to be a dispensary that is already known for quality across the state with everything we’ve done. From our gallery shows to the local pipes to the Legacy Cup — to be a household name before dispensaries open. The goal is definitely to apply for a mezzobusiness license and have the three dispensary locations in Minneapolis, Woodbury and Duluth.
Interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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Answers to questions from readers
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Q: Can I transport cannabis between Minnesota and Canada since it is legal in both places?
A: No. Marijuana remains illegal at the federal level and attempting to bring it across the U.S.-Canada border would be a federal crime.
Q: Do medical marijuana dispensaries employ pharmacists or any medical professional on location?
A: Yes. Patients must first be certified as having a qualifying condition by a state-licensed physician, physician’s assistant or advanced practice registered nurse before enrolling in the medical cannabis program. When the patient visits a medical dispensary for the first time, they will consult about a treatment plan with a licensed pharmacist, who will recommend medication. Additional consultations are required by law before changing the dosage or product. Every purchase of medical cannabis must be approved by a pharmacist.
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Marijuana use and possession are now legal in Minnesota. Here's what to know. - Read more.
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A guide to Minnesota's new cannabis law - Read more.
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What you can and can't do with marijuana in your vehicle - Read more.
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What you need to know about cannabis crime expungement - Read more.
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Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management - Read more.
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