ST PAUL, Minn — Just one day after being assigned to the top post of Minnesota's Office of Cannabis Management, Erin DuPree is out.
On Friday, KARE 11's partners MPR News and APM Reports reported that DuPree's Apple Valley hemp business "sold products that exceeded state limits on THC potency, owed money to former associates and accumulated tens of thousands of dollars in tax liens."
While she didn't offer an explicit reason for her departure, DuPree denied ever knowingly selling illegal products at her business in a statement, adding when she became aware of them, she removed them from her shop's inventory.
"Conducting lawful business has been an objective of my business career. However, it has become clear that I have become a distraction that would stand in the way of the important work that needs to be done," said Dupree in a statement.
She was slated to take over the role on Oct. 2., before today's news.
Governor Tim Walz initially praised Dupree when the announcement of her appointment was made.
"DuPree is a proven and effective leader, who will be successful in standing up Minnesota’s new adult-use cannabis market and helping Minnesotans succeed in the industry," he said in a release.
However, his tone shifted in a message on Friday.
"We have a responsibility to assure Minnesotans that this emerging market will be safe, lawful, and well-regulated," said the Governor in his Friday statement.
Walz announced Charlene Briner will lead the office in the interim.
In an interview Friday, Republican Senator Zach Duckworth criticized the Walz administration's hiring process.
"This is something that's so serious and so important, that we have to do our due diligence," Duckworth said, "not only regarding the law but those that we're going to also trust to enact it."
The developments involving the Office of Cannabis Management have also been tracked closely by entrepreneurs like Zach Rohr, founder of Minny Grown and one of the many hoping to get a license through OCM to sell recreational marijuana.
"It's definitely surprising and a little shocking," Rohr said of DuPree's departure. "To miss glaring red flags during this hiring process for the director of Office of Cannabis Management, does plant a seed of distrust at the state capitol with folks in the industry."
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