Minnesota women are helping each other navigate the legal pot biz

Plus: The U launches new Cannabis Research Center

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CHRONICLING LEGAL CANNABIS IN MINNESOTA

CHRONICLING LEGAL
CANNABIS IN MINNESOTA

In this week’s Nuggets: The U launches a new Cannabis Research Center; a look at the Office of Cannabis Management’s contracts for consulting and a cannabis licensing system; Minnesota women helping each other navigate the legal pot biz; and Snoop Dogg says he's giving up smoking. Nuggets will take a break next week for the holiday. Happy Thanksgiving!

U launches new Cannabis Research Center: The University of Minnesota launched a Cannabis Research Center on Thursday that will analyze the public health impacts of marijuana legalization and inform future policymaking related to the drug. The recreational marijuana law passed by the Minnesota Legislature earlier this year included $2.5 million in annual funding for the U's School of Public Health to establish and maintain the Cannabis Research Center. U public health Prof. Traci Toomey, an expert on substance use control policies, will serve as the center's inaugural director, according to the university. Read more.

A look at Office of Cannabis Management’s contracts: Nuggets obtained through a public records request Minnesota IT Services’ contract with Carahsoft Technology to provide cannabis licensing software for the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM). The state will pay Carahsoft, a Virginia reseller of web-based “Software as a Service (SaaS)” applications, up to $583,793 over the two-year term of the contract for the implementation of cannabis licensing software from Accela, which also counts California’s Department of Cannabis Control as a client. That figure includes roughly $180,000 for professional services, $336,000 for software licensing fees and $67,000 for “preferred support.” Missouri-based Byrne Software will also assist Carahsoft with implementation of the system.

According to Minnesota IT, services in the licensing contract include:

The state also signed a 22-month contract worth up to $308,875 with Massachusetts-based consulting firm Cannabis Public Policy Consulting (CPPC) to provide project management support for setting up OCM. The state will pay rates ranging from $100 to $225 per hour for nine CPPC employees working in various capacities over the agreement’s duration.

The contract specifies six tasks that CPPC will focus on:

Correction: A previous edition of Nuggets misstated CPPC’s location. While some of its employees say they are based in New York in their LinkedIn profiles, the company is headquartered in Sudbury, Mass.

Three months after White Earth marijuana raid, no charges filed: Max Nesterak of the Minnesota Reformer revisits the Aug. 2 raid of a tobacco shop on the White Earth reservation in northern Minnesota, where seven pounds of cannabis and $3,000 in cash were seized just a day after the state’s new law legalizing adult-use cannabis took effect. Nesterak reports that no charges have been filed and the case raises questions about the state’s ability to prosecute the shop owner. Read more.

Did you miss last week's Nuggets? Read it here.

Dec. 3: Concentrating on Concentrates - "Learn everything you need to know to turn your homegrown flower into professional-grade concentrates, all legally and at home!" Presented by Solventless Minnesota and Minnesota Cannabis College. 4 p.m. The Wilderness, 1010 W. Lake St., Minneapolis. More info and registration.

Talk to us! Send feedback on this newsletter, events, questions, story tips or new feature ideas to nuggets@startribune.com

Andres from Minneapolis shared this photo of this flowering Popesicle plant, an autoflowering strain from Night Owl seeds. Unlike traditional "photoperiod" cannabis plants, which require the light cycle to change to 12 hours or less of light per day before they will start to flower, autoflowers are bred to begin flowering regardless of the light cycle.

Homegrowers, show off your plants! Share your best photo with us by clicking the button below or tag us on Instagram with #stribnuggets and we'll publish one each week in Nuggets. By submitting a photo you affirm that you own the rights to it and you are granting permission to the Star Tribune to publish it on its platforms.

On a chilly morning last week, dozens of women crowded into a large conference room in the Riverplace complex just across the river from downtown Minneapolis to network, socialize and share professional advice with one another. Event organizers provided doughnuts and coffee — as well as an assortment of CBD chocolates and low-potency THC beverages.

This was the first meetup of the Minnesota Women’s Cannabusiness Network since the state legalized adult-use cannabis on Aug. 1. The group was started before the COVID-19 pandemic by Laura Monn Ginsburg of Blunt Strategies, one of the key players behind the MN is Ready campaign that pushed for legalization, as an inclusive place for women — or more specifically, anyone who does not identify as a man —who are interested in the cannabis industry to connect and share information and expertise. The group's networking events are free to attend.

Nuggets spoke with several of the women entrepreneurs in attendance about their businesses and motivations.

Diane Afrooz

Her businesses: Owner of Neon Lotus, a company that offers yoga classes that include cannabis consumption; co-owner of Kite Soda.

“Yoga is the thing that really feeds my soul personally. Cannabis and yoga are tied together. In India, [cannabis] has been a part of their spiritual practices for thousands of years. When you do yoga, your endocannabinoid system gets activated. To me, it’s been as effective of a tool as using cannabis to manage pain and relax.”

Diane Afrooz (Handout)

Calandra Revering

Her businesses: Owner of Good Zen, a THC store opening Black Friday at 8509 Jefferson Lane N. in Brooklyn Park; criminal defense attorney, Revering Law and Consulting.

“I want to be the first Black woman to open a dispensary in Minnesota. I also have a beverage called Slay. We have three [products] coming out in the next month. Slay stands for, you can slay anything no matter your sexual orientation. I’m joining with my son, who is gay. We want to encourage more parents to support their LGBTQ children. Part of the proceeds will go towards anti-bullying campaigns and HIV research.”

Calandra Revering (Handout)

Kara Witherspoon and Melissa Guidi

Their business: Co-owners of Natreum, a chain of wellness stores in the Twin Cities area that sell their own line of hemp-derived cannabinoid products as well as other brands.

“I saw the negative effects that pharmaceuticals were having on my grandmother, and then also myself. I went through a chemo treatment and what they wanted me to take for relief was causing more issues, whereas cannabis was actually making me feel better,” Witherspoon said. “It’s not the end-all, be-all, but it really has been life-changing for so many people.”

Melissa Guidi, left, and Kara Witherspoon (Handout)

Partner/principal, Blunt Strategies

How did the Minnesota Women’s Cannabusiness Network come about?

When we started Blunt Strategies, we were specifically thinking about legalizing adult-use cannabis, and that necessarily creates an adult-use cannabis market. We wanted the campaign to be as pure as possible. We didn’t pay ourselves. It was meant to be something where we were doing what we could to be useful. And if we built the right market, why should we not get to be in it? So we started the Minnesota Women’s Cannabusiness Network with the idea that we are businesswomen who are interested in this industry. And we want to be with other cool women who are interested in this industry.

We really wanted to have a space that was just for folks, for whatever business meant to them. If it meant they were going to be making a product, great. If they were going to have a retail presence, awesome. If they were going to be an ancillary service provider and be in a white-collar industry — an attorney or accountant but they want to be in this industry. Everybody was welcome.

What kinds of support does the network provide to women entrepreneurs?

We don’t have any programs, per se, at least not yet. What we have found to be the most beneficial, really what women in this industry need, is a space to be together. You don’t have to prove anything to enter, and you don’t have to pay anything. It’s really just about bringing women together. And I should be very clear, folks that don’t identify as men. We proudly welcome anybody on a gender affiliation spectrum. But we see a real mandate to have a space where folks who are not men can be together to think.

Where do you want to go with it in the future?

That’s kind of TBD. There’s interest in making it a little bit more formal. We can certainly bring more structure to it. I would love for it to be a place that you can rely on to learn something you didn’t know, have access to people that you wouldn’t ever organically run into, and to be a totally comfortable person in this cannabis industry. We have talked about having an online directory, certainly we want to be a proponent of women-led businesses.

What are the most common questions you get from women who are thinking about getting into the cannabis industry?

It depends on what they’re looking to do, if it’s a product or retail. They want help with that roadmap of how they transition their professional skills into what is now a legitimate industry. The most frequent question I get is, how can I get started? It’s great to see people have an imagination for understanding that it’s not just if you want to make a product or own a store. There are so many more ways to be in this industry. I think one of our benefits is that we can bring those opportunities to people, so they get to meet with a person who owns multiple stores throughout the metro area, or a person who owns one store, or an expert in growing, or an expert in retail and merchandising.

What advice or cautions would you give to a woman who comes to you with an idea, but doesn’t really know where to go from there?

Definitely get some professional support in evaluating what your idea is, both as a viable business idea as well as a legal and compliant idea. This is something Blunt Strategies does with clients. We’ll do discovery sessions where we walk through what somebody’s business idea is, or what their existing model is that they want to change, to help them evaluate the path forward in the industry as well as the challenges and opportunities in whatever they’re proposing.

My caution and my motivation would be that there is so much room for everyone. Don’t think that you can’t be part of this industry, because you absolutely can. I think there’s value in taking all that excitement and going to a professional — whether it’s a lawyer, an accountant or a firm like ours — somebody that helps you objectively evaluate what it’s really going to take to get this thing off the ground.

If an entrepreneur plans to apply for a license in the next year, what steps do they need to be taking now?

It’s kind of everything. Have a solid brand and a vision for what you’re doing. What are you selling? Is it services? Is it brick and mortar? Is it a product? Get that nailed down because you’re going to need investors and you’re going to need customers. The more clearly you can articulate what your brand value is, the better. This is a tricky time, because we don’t know what the final rules are going to be. We know what’s in statute. You really want to think about how you’re building your business plan now, so that it can fit into both where things are likely to go, as well as having enough flexibility to be responsive if things are different, or if there are extra things you have to take into consideration in your city. Make sure you’re thinking ahead.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.