Minnesota could become the first state in nine years to open cannabis dispensaries that are run by cities and counties.

That’s because of one line in the state’s new cannabis laws that allow for cities and counties to “establish, own and operate a municipal cannabis store.” The law appears to be the first of its kind in the country and has prompted cities to research whether they want to open their own dispensaries.

But there’s only one city that’s been successful with running a cannabis store. The City of North Bonneville in Washington was the first city in the country to open a municipal cannabis dispensary back in 2015, but was no longer operating it as of 2021.

Municipal cannabis stores are of particular interest to local governments in Minnesota that don’t already operate their own liquor stores. In cities like Edina and Isanti, liquor stores serve as a revenue stream that helps reduce taxes for residents and businesses.

Because of conflicts with federal law, other states have shied away from adopting the state-owned liquor store model for cannabis retailers.

“The idea has been floated and rejected in various states, such as New Mexico and New Hampshire. Lawmakers have done so because cannabis remains illegal (Schedule I) under federal law and they do not wish to enact policies that place state-employees in a position where they are engaging in activity that is in positive conflict with federal law,” said Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, a national cannabis advocacy group.

According to state Rep. Zack Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids, who helped author the legislation that legalized recreational cannabis last year, the idea of municipal cannabis stores came directly from cities and counties in Minnesota.

“When we were putting the bill together, we weren’t copy-pasting from other states. We were trying to come up with a Minnesota-specific model. And one of the things that works well for many communities across Minnesota is municipal liquor stores. They are important to a lot of cities all across the state. And building from that successful model, there were cities that had some potential interest in taking the same approach with cannabis that they take with liquor. And we wanted to enable them to do that, if they chose to do it and if it was workable,” said Stephenson.

Government officials in the City of Osseo, the City of St. Joseph and Cook County have been weighing the pros and cons of operating a cannabis retail store, despite the fact that Minnesota’s Office of Cannabis Management won’t come out with official cannabis regulations until early 2025.

The Office’s rules will dictate what municipal cannabis dispensaries could look like. But the Office is still in the process of drafting those rules, and most municipalities are still in the early stages of discussion on cannabis dispensaries.

Country’s first government-run dispensary struggled to break even

Cannabis in a jar at the NativeCare dispensary at the Red Lake Nation. (Mathew Holding Eagle III / MPR News)

North Bonneville Mayor Brian Sabo said when the idea of a government-run marijuana store came forward, before he was mayor, marijuana stores were still an uncharted concept in Washington after the state legalized recreational cannabis use and sales in 2012.

Soon after, the city formed a public development authority for the purpose of opening a cannabis retail store. The plan was to use the profits to pour back into North Bonneville, like upgrading street lights and rebuilding a central park playground.

An “aggressive business plan” was put forward outlining the customer base needed to support the store would come from other areas throughout the Northwest, according to Sabo.

“On paper, the plan appeared to be a good one but critics were warning it was far too aggressive given how far out and secluded North Bonneville is within the Gorge, and the number of retail stores that were planned to be opened throughout Washington State,” Sabo said.

The store, known as the Cannabis Corner, opened in 2015 and was widely reported as the first municipal marijuana store in the U.S. Sabo said it did fairly well the first couple years, but as more retail stores opened in the state and in Oregon, business drastically fell off.

Related Articles

US forces fly in to beef up security at embassy in Haiti and evacuate nonessential personnel

Aid in dying or physician-assisted suicide? As MN lawmakers weigh bill, advocates and opponents choose different terms.

Biden: Netanyahu ‘hurting Israel’ by not preventing more civilian deaths in Gaza

Katie Britt used decades-old example of rapes in Mexico as Republican attack on Biden border policy

Trump blasts Biden over Laken Riley’s death after Biden says he regrets using term ‘illegal’

By 2018, the dispensary was struggling to break even.

“A request by the PDA was granted to move the store and license to a larger market of Stevenson, Washington, the next city 10 miles east of North Bonneville. Although the store did better in the larger market, sales never exceeded break-even status, negating the promise of a financial windfall for the city,” said Sabo.

In 2021, their city council decided the business was more of a liability than an asset. They dissolved the public development authority and sold the store.

Government officials and cannabis experts from multiple states were not aware of any other government-run dispensaries in the U.S., meaning Minnesota appears to be poised to be the second try after North Bonneville failed.

Cities say revenue could reduce property taxes, offset budget increases

Brittany Weichel and Tara Eck pass a joint outside during a celebration at First Avenue in Minneapolis marking the legalization of recreational marijuana on Aug. 1, 2023. (Nicole Neri for MPR News)

The Minnesota cities of Osseo and St. Joseph, along with Cook County, are a few municipalities that don’t operate a liquor store and are exploring the idea of a cannabis store.

The biggest draw for them is the potential revenue a dispensary would bring in.

“It really comes down to dollars and cents. In the time when the costs of providing the high-quality city services to our residents and business owners only continues to go up each and every year, we are looking for any potential revenue stream that can help offset our budget increases,” said Riley Grams, Osseo city administrator.

The sales tax on cannabis product sales in Minnesota is 10 percent, in addition to state and local taxes. Local governments are barred from imposing their own tax on cannabis.

In Cook County, commissioners are divided on the idea. County administrator James Joerke said Cook County currently doesn’t have any enterprise funds or operate any utilities.

“There are some who see this as an opportunity to generate revenue that can be used to offset property taxes. There are others who I think have concerns about playing a role even selling a product that could have harmful effects to residents. And there’s also some sentiment that this is really something that the private sector should handle,” said Joerke.

Similar discussions are happening in the City of St. Joseph. Mayor Rick Schultz said 30 percent of the city’s land is exempt from property taxes and the income from a dispensary could help relieve some of the tax burden for residents and businesses.

Both Osseo and Cook County have formed committees to look more closely into what it would take to run a cannabis store. Cook County is partnering with the City of Grand Marais for the committee, while St. Joseph has had only a few conversations about the topic.

Now, all that’s left to do is to wait for the state’s Cannabis Office to come up with official rulemaking. The Office has until this summer to draft rules and plans to adopt them by early 2025, when licensing applications are also planned to open.

While St. Joseph and Cook County are still in the early stages of exploring a cannabis store, Osseo wants to be ready to submit as soon as the application window for licensing opens.

“We didn’t want to be reactionary. We wanted to get out ahead of the game and be ready as or as ready as we possibly could be once the final rules and regulations were implemented and approved by the state legislature,” said Gram.

Between the summer and early 2025, the rules are subject to change. Depending on those changes, it could elongate the timeline the Office has in mind for opening cannabis sales.

“Realistically, even if we were able to offer full licenses in early 2025, the process of obtaining a license and actually opening your doors is a lengthy one. And so I think that 2025 is always the goal, but OCM is very focused on making those license applications available,” said Charlene Briner, Minnesota’s interim cannabis director.

The timeline could also be impacted by the Minnesota Legislature, which is expected to make some tweaks in cannabis laws this session, with the goal of streamlining the rollout of cannabis dispensaries.

Federal law, banking, public safety concerns

Cody Reid rolls a giant novelty joint during a celebration at First Avenue marking the legalization of recreational cannabis in 2023. (Nicole Neri for MPR News)

There are still a few challenges ahead for Cook County and the cities of St. Joseph and Osseo.

Cook County has already heard some pushback from private businesses who don’t want to compete with a county-operated cannabis store. Others in St. Joseph are worried about how a municipal cannabis operation will impact public safety.

“If it’s a privately owned dispensary, then is it subject to a different crowd than if it’s city-owned? Also if you open one, what kind of consumers are coming into your city?” said Schultz.

Kyle Hartnett is an assistant research manager at League of Minnesota Cities, a membership association representing over 800 cities in Minnesota, and has been fielding questions from cities about municipal cannabis stores. He said public health is a concern.

“This is kind of like municipal liquor in that if we control it, we can have better controls and as to how the operations are being run because we’re making sure it’s not going into the hands of minors, that kind of thing. Ultimately, that’s a policy decision for each city council to make both on the revenue side and then the public health side of it,” said Hartnett.

The other, more obvious obstacle is that cannabis is illegal at the federal level. That means there is the risk that banks won’t accept cannabis funds.

“There’s still so many logistical issues with the fact that it is still illegal at the federal level and because of that, it is a cash business. You cannot use credit cards to take payment and so that presents a huge challenge and frankly a huge risk if you’re running a cash-only business and so there are so many issues that need to be investigated before the county board could feel comfortable making a decision about whether to move forward,” Joerke said.

In the case of the Washington city of North Bonneville, Mayor Sabo said it was difficult to find a bank that would process funds for their dispensary but they were eventually able to find a private company to use for banking services.

Initially, only 30 percent of residents in North Bonneville supported the idea of their cannabis store.

“Most were worried about the feds descending in on North Bonneville and shutting the place down, blackening the eye of the city’s reputation. Fortunately, there was never any federal intervention,” said Sabo.

Related Articles

Letters: The state of Minnesota shouldn’t be the big boss of local zoning

Aid in dying or physician-assisted suicide? As MN lawmakers weigh bill, advocates and opponents choose different terms.

Text of the Gaza ceasefire resolution passed by the St. Paul City Council

St. Paul City Council unanimously supports Gaza ceasefire resolution

Bill would bar Minnesota schools, colleges, governments from removing LGBTQ+ rainbow pride symbols

New research released by the Center for Indian Country Development at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis finds Native Americans pay more to finance home purchases than white borrowers. The report blames a disproportionately broad use of home-only loans on reservations.

“Those are personal property loans used to purchase manufactured homes,” said CICD senior economist Matt Gregg. “So, it’s the composition of the loan products that are driving the higher prices paid by on-reservation Native borrowers.”

Gregg added home-only loans are not typically insured or guaranteed federally.

“When a loan is insured by the federal government, the risk to the lender is borne by the federal government,” he said. “The loan becomes less risky and the benefits will flow to the consumer in the form of lower interest rates.”

The research found that even on-reservation borrowers with good credit scores “disproportionately use home-only loans.”

Gregg said that results in more expense.

“The interest rate paid by an on-reservation Native borrower at the 90th percentile of interest rates is 9 percent,” he said. “Whereas the interest rate paid by a white borrower at the 90th percentile of white interest rates is roughly 5 percent.”

At that rate, a white borrower would pay $50,000 in interest on a $75,000 home loan over the standard term length of 23 years by the time the loan matures. In contrast, Native American borrowers on reservations would pay $100,000. Although the disparity is greater for Native Americans living on reservations, it also affects those off reservations.

Gregg stressed the research findings are important for two reasons.

“This is honestly one of the few papers that dig into the research gaps that are so common among either tribal communities or just Native Americans in general,” he said.

Secondly, he said the price of a home loan has knock-on effects on the rest of homebuyers’ financial lives.

“It affects their standard of living, their budgets, their retirement savings,” Gregg said. “For many borrowers, the interest rate might affect their ability to even become a homeowner in the first place.”

Gregg said future research should explore the reasons for the disproportionate use of home-only loans in tribal areas.

Related Articles

Real World Economics: Trump’s stated trade policy would have bad tradeoffs

Biden calls out ‘shrinkflation’ as part of a broader strategy to reframe how voters view the economy

U.S. adds 275,000 jobs last month; unemployment rises to 3.9%

Paul Krugman: The rich spend differently from you and me

Biden administration would cap credit card late fees at $8, part of campaign against junk fees

NEW YORK — America Ferrera bid a fond awards season farewell to “Barbie” on the Oscars red carpet Sunday in a stunning, sparkly Atelier Versace gown in the film’s signature pink, while Rita Moreno wore a huge smile and a statement black gown from Badgley Mischka.

“America Ferrera did bombshell right and gave us the cool Barbie pink moment we needed this whole time, aka it didn’t smack us over the head,” said Brooke Bobb, fashion news director for Harper’s Bazaar.

Hollywood’s big night in Los Angeles included few fashion risks, with many sticking to classic silhouettes, black and other standard colors. Others offered an under-the-sea-vibe in soft seafoam colors with mermaid crystals and shell-like designs.

Emma Stone was in the sea camp in a soft pastel strapless look with a faint shell pattern in mint and a wide peplum at the waist. It was Louis Vuitton. Hailee Steinfeld in Elie Saab was also sea-like in sheer ethereal blue-green with wings attached at the wrist. Lupita Nyong’o was sea-adjacent in feathers and sequins by Armani Privé.

Moreno, at 92, waved to photographers as she showed off her pleated taffeta and velvet gown. Brittany Snow offered a refreshing show of color in a bright strapless custom Mônot dress paired with a statement choker.

Cynthia Erivo, in custom Louis Vuitton, shut down the carpet in emerald green lamb leather, dinosaur-like spikes along the back of a large-shouldered jacket. Emily Blunt and hubby John Krasinski matched in off-white, she in Schiaparelli couture with shoulders that floated above her body, that extended silhouette touch a mini-trend of the night.

Anya Taylor-Joy was full shell in a Dior Haute Couture strapless look in a sparkly scallop design.

Da’Vine Roy Randolph, on the top of her fashion game this awards season, wore an A-line pale blue tulle gown from Louis Vuitton with oversized sleeves embellished with tulle fringe. Ariana Grande also went big in a puffy pink gown that also had huge sleeves on a matching coat.

InStyle beauty director Lauren Valenti lauded Randolph’s effort.

“I loved Da’Vine’s beauty homage to Mae West, which featured cat eyes, glossy lined lips and va-va-voom side-swept blonde waves,” she said.

Lavender had a moment on a few. So did Billie Eilish in a Chanel schoolgirl look with a black jacket, pattern skirt, white socks and black Mary Janes. She and others on the carpet wore red pins supporting a cease-fire in Gaza.

“This year in general, the power of the red carpet was driven by women whose confidence felt utterly authentic and not like an exercise in branding,” Bobb said. “Embracing personal style really is the only way to land on the best-dressed list these days.”

The “Godzilla Minus One” group, meanwhile, showed up carrying toy monsters.

Many men stuck to black in tuxedos and other looks, including a fashion star of the awards season, Colman Domingo in a double-breasted tuxedo look, a custom Louis Vuitton, paired with cowboy boots and a jewel at the center of his bow tie. He wore a pinkie ring that once belonged to the man behind his “Rustin” character, Bayard Rustin, as he has throughout awards season.

“I wanted to shine like a diamond″ he told E! “I’m having a great time.”

Speaking of gems, Lily Gladstone won the jewelry game. She paired her midnight blue velvet gown with a Bulgari necklace in white gold with turquoise touches and blue oval tanzanite at the center.

Her custom Gucci gown was created in collaboration with Indigenous designer Joe Big Mountain of Ironhorse Quillwork. It featured a hand-wrapped porcupine quilled border in blue with a natural woven star design and sterling silver-plated bead edging.

Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper also went for black tuxedos. Gosling wore Gucci with silver bead piping, and Cooper wore double-breasted in Louis Vuitton. No ties for either, along with others.

“Bradley Cooper tells Brad Pitt to move over by leaving his tie, and Gigi Hadid, at home and instead brought his tan, a double-breasted tux embellished with turquoise buttons and slicked hair that took my breath away,” said Larry Curran, an independent brand consultant who has worked with Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman.

As for the women, Hüller was on his best-dressed list.

“Correctly, she skipped earrings and chose a diamond necklace (Cartier) that brought balance to the oversized, off-the-shoulder wings of the dress, and another sparkly embellishment placed in between them,” Curran said.

There was a predictable spray of sequins for the women. White looks also represented, including Kirsten Dunst in Gucci. There was lots of black for the women, too, including a custom Schiaparelli for Sandra Hüller with extended shoulders and the perfect fit.

Erika Alexander of “American Fiction” wore a white strapless gown with a black skirt trimmed in pastel tulle. The designer, Christian Siriano, said it was made in a miraculous four days.

Laverne Cox, working the carpet for E!, was the epitome of Old Hollywood glam in an hourglass look of black and low-plunging gold, her hair piled high as she fluttered a feather-light neck piece that trailed behind. Her look was vintage Mugler.

Scott George, a member of the Osage Nation and the first Indigenous person to receive an Oscar nomination for best original song, was among the early arrivals in a gray look trimmed in green and purple, his tie in matching colors.

A couple of little cuties in nominated short films were delighted to walk. Porché Brinker of “The Last Repair Shop” was in ethereal soft blue, and Juliet Donenfeld of “Red, White and Blue” looked all-the-way grown up in a blinged-out strapless dress.

Red, an “IT” color of the awards season, had some early enthusiasts as arrivals heated up.

Issa Rae, a red carpet standout, stunned in plunging deep green from Ami Paris. The top sparkled.

“I am wearing green for good luck,” she said. “I wanted to feel old Hollywood.”

Julee Wilson, beauty editor at large for Cosmopolitan, praised Rae’s beauty look.

“Her sleek topknot and glowing skin are the perfect combo. Her hair was elegantly pulled away to showcase high shine skin. It sparkles,” she said. “I need to know what’s making it glow so much!”

Gabrielle Union wore another stunner, a strong silver embellished look from Carolina Herrera that offered an armor vibe.

“I am feeling myself,” Union said.

Vanessa Hudgens brought along one special accessory. She revealed her baby bump under a long body-hugging gown she wore to host ABC’s pre-show coverage.

Among the risk-takers? Charlotte Kemp Muhl, who walked with Sean Ono Lennon in a backless and near sideless black dress. Eugene Lee Wang, following in the footsteps of Billy Porter, donned a full ball skirt with a crop jacket.

Daniel Scheinert of the Daniels wore a Fashion Brand Company jacket adorned with a snake. It’s a buzzy brand worn by a lot of comedians, including SNL’s Sarah Sherman.

Jodi Kahn, Neiman Marcus’ vice president of luxury fashion, saw plenty for her customers on the red carpet.

‘We saw a lot of black, beautifully on Sandra Hüller in Schiaparelli as well as Danielle Brooks in Dolce & Gabbana, Jennifer Lawrence in Dior and Margot Robbie in Versace,” she said. “While we usually see lots of bold color on the red carpet it’s striking to see all of the beautiful black, elegant gowns.”

She included Eilish in that group.

“In Chanel, Billie took a modern approach to ladylike style, which will easily inspire long, lean skirts and jackets into our customers wardrobes. Black will always be fashion’s favorite color.”

Jonathan Evans, style director for Esquire, said you had to look closely to see one of the biggest red carpet trends.

“Even though they kept it relatively classic otherwise, a surprising number of guys opted for flared trousers this year. Simu Liu, Bradley Cooper and Colman Domingo all embraced a little extra room around the ankle, and it looked great,” he said.

EJ Briones, executive fashion editor for Bustle, saw another strong trend.

“Embellished corsets dominated the red carpet with looks from Hailee Steinfeld in Elie Saab Couture, Florence Pugh in Del Core and Danielle Brooks in custom Dolce & Gabbana. The heavy detail of the bodice against the softness created a beautiful juxtaposition,” he said.

Among the men who opted out of black was Taylor Zakhar Perez in powder blue. Liu of “Barbie” brought the Kenergy. He rocked a black Fendi look with a wrap-around jacket closed with a brooch.

“It’s a fun situation, and I like brooches,” he said.

Related Articles

‘Oppenheimer’ wins best picture at Academy Awards, Emma Stone takes best actress

Wanted: Writers for awards show jokes. Must be skilled at diplomacy.

Picks for Oscars 2024: What will win, what should win in a year of movie riches

Oscars producers promise surprises for Sunday’s (1 hour earlier) show

Best cameo? Best hat? Ahead of the Oscars, AP hands out its own awards

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch has previously noted how chameleon-like Minnesota was a year ago.

That was largely a product of injuries. But the 2022-23 Timberwolves proved they could play a certain style or scheme depending on who was available.

The goal wasn’t to be the same this season. Minnesota wanted to be big and strong defensively from the season’s outset. It has achieved as much, running away with the lague’s top defensive rating by a large margin.

But, in an 82-game campaign, there will be times when circumstances demand a different approach. Such was the case Sunday, as the Timberwolves were sans Rudy Gobert, Kyle Anderson and Monte Morris on top of Karl-Anthony Towns.

Anderson and Gobert are two defensive lynchpins for the Wolves.

Towns, Gobert and Anderson are three of Minnesota’s primary bigs in a big-ball team.

Missing all of them, Minnesota went hyper-small Sunday in Los Angeles against the Lakers. Jaden McDaniels was essentially the power forward in the starting lineup, with Reid serving as the lone big.

Minnesota was forced to change approaches and essentially lean into its offense. It worked for a half. The Wolves trailed by just one, 69-68, at the half, as Reid scored 21 points over the first two frames thanks to a spread floor approach that created driving lanes and open jumpers.

But it wasn’t sustainable in Minnesota’s 120-109 loss to the Lakers (36-30).

Because, eventually, the Wolves’ lack of defense and size caught up to them.

Minnesota (44-21) took a one-point edge into the final frame, but Lakers star Anthony Davis tallied eight points and nine rebounds in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter while Minnesota missed its first nine shots, allowing the Lakers to build a 16-point advantage midway through the frame.

Davis finished with 27 points and 25 rebounds.

“He should’ve dominated us. He had size, length, all that stuff. Was in the paint for seven or eight seconds every time they shot the ball. It’s easy to go get it. But we’ve got to do a better job of rooting him out,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch told reporters postgame. “Really it was offensive rebounds that hurt us in the fourth. We got off to slow starts offensively both in the third and the fourth quarter. But I felt confident we would be able to come back. So many second shots, it’s difficult at that point.”

Los Angeles shot 53 percent from the field and 41 percent from deep as all five starters scored 13-plus points.

“I was a little disappointed, it took us way too long to find our physicality on the ball. I don’t know if we were playing to keep ourselves out of foul trouble. It was clear they weren’t going to blow the whistle a lot, so we should’ve been way more physical in the beginning of the game. Once we started to get physical in the third, we were right back into the game, but we needed to do that more in the beginning,” Finch said. “We started the game trying to be aggressive in pick and roll. They did a good job of picking that apart. … We looked a little rusty there. Tried some zone, we tried everything. … We had to be more physical on the ball.”

On the offensive end, Reid had 25 points for the Wolves, while Anthony Edwards added 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

Sunday was a reminder that while offensive shootouts can be enjoyable to watch at various points throughout an 82-game campaign, they are not what strong seasons are built upon. Minnesota’s size and defense are what makes the Wolves a high-level team in the Western Conference.

And while Minnesota can veer off that path when the availability of players dictates as much, the results will likely fall off as a result. As was the case during last season’s 42-win campaign. The offense that got off to a quick start against the Lakers dissipated in the second half Sunday, while the defense that ha been so solid all season can generally be relied upon for four quarters.

Of course, that defense largely rests upon the availability of Gobert, who missed the contest with right hamstring tightness. Finch said he didn’t have a gauge of when Gobert will return to action. Minnesota will stay in Los Angeles and next plays the Clippers on Tuesday.

Related Articles

Timberwolves’ Rudy Gobert fined $100k for gesture, comments implying refs involved in gambling

Fatigue starting to set in for Timberwolves amid difficult stretch

Rudy Gobert’s late-game tech proves costly as Timberwolves fall in overtime to Cleveland

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Anthony Edwards, soaring up to save the Timberwolves season

Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns suffers meniscus injury, will have surgery