NUGGETS

In this week’s Nuggets: Costly, hard-to-find insurance is keeping THC beverages off some Minnesota menus; state officials tell retailers to stop selling illegal cannabinoids; White Earth Nation’s Waabigwan Mashkiki grow facility aims to more than triple its production; Democrats include marijuana in party platform draft, but don’t call for legalization; and social equity applicants can apply for a license preapproval lottery starting Wednesday.

Costly, hard-to-find insurance keeping THC beverages off some Minnesota menus: The success of Minnesota’s experiment allowing THC consumption in bars, restaurants and taprooms for the past two years has come at a high price: Insurance costs are astronomical, and policies are hard to find, Brooks Johnson reports. The main issue is a lack of experience in the industry. Because there haven’t been any lawsuits for a business over-serving cannabis to someone who later crashes their car, as an example, insurers aren’t sure what their liability might be. Read more.

Minnesota officials tell retailers to stop selling illegal cannabinoids: “The Office of Cannabis Management is cracking down on certain strains of cannabinoids, as they say too many shops have been caught selling illegal products. In a letter sent Tuesday, officials reminded retailers that only delta-8 and delta-9 THC are allowed in hemp edibles. Specifically, they clarified that THC-V more commonly known as ‘diet weed’ due to its reported appetite-curbing, energy-boosting properties, is illegal,” Courtney Godfrey reports for FOX 9. Read more. 

White Earth Nation’s Waabigwan Mashkiki grow facility aims to more than triple its production: That’s according to Waabigwan CEO Zach Wilson, in this story from MPR’s Melissa Olson about legal cannabis spurring more intertribal trade in Minnesota.

In addition to supplying cannabis products to Prairie Island, White Earth sells cannabis to the dispensary operated by Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. Plans are in the works for White Earth to supply cannabis products to a dispensary planned by the Lower Sioux Indian Community. 

White Earth is also expanding its grow facility to meet demand, according to Zach Wilson, CEO of Waabigwan Mashkiki. 

The White Earth grow facility has dedicated 10,000 square feet to its cannabis canopy and over 30,000 feet to its processing and packaging operation. 

“We grow 300 plus pounds a month right now of Grade A flower. We've been doing that for the last year,” said Wilson. “We're in the middle of our expansion and that 300 is going to go over to 1,000 pounds monthly, very quickly.”

Democrats include marijuana in party platform draft, but don’t call for legalization: “The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is touting President Joe Biden’s marijuana pardons and rescheduling moves, while calling for broader reform to expunge prior records. However, unlike in 2020, the party’s latest draft platform that was approved by a party committee on Tuesday doesn’t promote broader cannabis decriminalization. The party is also blasting former President Donald Trump, the newly named Republican presidential nominee, over his prior administration’s anti-cannabis actions,” Kyle Jaeger reports for Marijuana Moment. Read more.

Social equity applicants can apply for license preapproval lottery starting Wednesday: The Office of Cannabis Management will begin accepting applications July 24 for preapproval for a limited number of social equity business licenses that will be awarded in a lottery later this summer. Only applicants who have had their social equity status verified are eligible for the lottery. The window to apply for preapproval closes Aug. 12. Resources for social equity applicants can be found on the OCM website.

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