ST PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota cannabis license lottery did not happen as scheduled Tuesday, after a judge ordered a temporary restraining order to halt it. That legal process isn't the only one playing out with the Office of Cannabis Management, though.
Another lawsuit alleges that OCM "has improperly, arbitrarily and capriciously denied licensing applications because the statutory requirements regarding application denials were not followed." Filed Friday, that lawsuit comes from six business owners and individuals.
"The OCM process also kicked out a bunch of people, like the six people that we filed suit on behalf of who should be in the lottery, who are bona fide Minnesota entrepreneurs," Jen Randolph Reise, head of business and cannabis law at North Star Law Group, said.
OCM has alleged in other litigation that some applicants are "bad actors," submitting multiple applications to overwhelm the system.
According to the OCM, the plaintiffs in that lawsuit are the "face of a scheme to use hundreds of straw applicants to gain unfair advantage in the lottery" and allege they are "using the judicial process to thwart the ambitions and dreams of legitimate social equity candidates who have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get a head start in this industry."
In total, 1,800 people submitted an application. 1,170 applicants were denied.
Reise said she agrees that there likely are bad actors among those denied, but said that shouldn't affect their clients.
"They're not bad actors," she said. "Most of them didn't even make mistakes, they just got these denials from OCM that are inscrutable and cannot be challenged."
Reise clarified that some have made mistakes, but said they were small, like missing a field on the application.
Courtney Ernston, the head of this litigation, says their goal is not to slow down this process further – rather, give applicants a chance to have their applications reviewed again.
"We want to make sure that not only is this fair for the current social equity applicants but to make sure that OCM doesn't do this again in the future," she said.
OCM declined an interview to discuss these lawsuits. A spokesperson said it's unclear what impact the lawsuit and judge's decision will have on the start of the cannabis rollout in 2025.