The Office of Cannabis Management will announce the next steps to legally sell marijuana in stores across the state on Wednesday morning.

This article originally appeared in Nuggets, the Minnesota Star Tribune’s free, weekly newsletter about legal cannabis in Minnesota. Sign up at startribune.com/nuggets. Gov. Tim Walz weighed in Thursday on the Office of Cannabis Management’s decision to cancel an early cannabis license preapproval lottery after a judge blocked it last month.

Minnesota’s Office of Cannabis Management announced that it’s canceling a planned lottery for special early cannabis licenses intended to help disadvantaged entrepreneurs get a leg-up in the nascent legal marijuana market.

Minnesota's issuance of recreational cannabis licenses will be delayed for months, quashing expectations of the market opening in early 2025.

The Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management announced Wednesday it is ending the license preapproval process, instead moving forward with opening a standard licensing cycle. The office plans to hold license lotteries now in May or June 2025 after most recently planning for licensing in the first three months of 2025.

Minnesota's Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) will not proceed with the preapproval lottery for social equity applicants looking to enter the state's legal cannabis market in 2025, likely delaying the launch of retail marijuana sales in much of Minnesota.

Minnesota cannabis regulators announced Wednesday they will no longer hold an early lottery for social equity applicants seeking business licenses in the new marijuana market, a move that could affect