ST PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota's cannabis industry may be new, but it's not exactly the Wild West.
The Office of Cannabis Management is still working on industry rules after sharing a first draft in July. The cannabis law, however, has been spelled out since last year. It's all in Minnesota Statues Chapter 342.
"The rules are not in place, but the law is," OCM interim director Charlene Briner said. "We expect operators to follow the laws."
Briner says most businesses are compliant these days.
"We saw compliance rates, when our inspectors first started going out, of like only 25 to 30%," she said. "We often found non-compliant products, whether it was labeling or potency limits. We're up in the area of 75 to 80% compliance, so that tells you that our education is working."
But now for the first time, the OCM is suing a dispensary: Zaza Cannabis.
According to court documents, when an OCM inspector visited the retailer's St. Paul shop on Grand Avenue, and identified himself, he saw an employee leave with a bag out of a back door.
The lawsuit says, in a second visit, inspectors split up to have one wait out back in case an employee tried to leave with any non-compliant products. Ultimately they seized hundreds of illegal vapes, buds and pre-rolls.
"We saw some that were 10, 20 and close to 30 times the legal limit in terms of potency," Briner said. "We saw inconsistencies with labeling or COAS, which are the certificates of analysis that tells you about the products that were not matching, or that were actually testing for cannabis rather than the hemp derived products. So we still saw numerous violations of compliance."
Now, if a judge rules in favor of the state, Zaza Cannabis would be disqualified from having a cannabis license for 5 years. The seized products would also be destroyed, and the business would have to cover the cost as well as all court costs.
"You assume that they may be confused or not fully understand the expectations, but once they've been given that opportunity and once they have continued to demonstrate that they are unwilling or unable to follow the law, that's where we step in and that sends a signal throughout the industry," Briner said. "Not only do we take this seriously, but also that we appreciate the folks who are waiting or who are in this space right now and are operating in good faith by following the law."
The Minnesota Attorney General's office will represent the OCM in court. The retailer did not respond to requests for comment Friday.