State cannabis regulators bring listening tour to Bemidji Thursday

Bemidji residents will get a direct look at Minnesota’s cannabis rollout Thursday evening when the Office of Cannabis Management brings its listening tour to Bemidji State University, as local governments and business owners face questions about how the new market will work on the ground.

The Bemidji stop is set for 6 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. Thursday, June 4, at Bemidji State University, 1500 Birchmont Dr. NE. Registration is capped because of capacity, and the event is open to the public. A second stop follows Friday, June 5, from 3 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. at Lake Superior University, 2101 Trinity Road, in Duluth.

State regulators say the tour is meant to give residents an overview of the Office of Cannabis Management’s role, a regulatory and cannabis market update, and a question-and-answer session with staff and the agency’s executive director. For Beltrami County, that makes the session more than a general informational stop. It is a chance to press officials on where cannabis businesses may locate, how local zoning and licensing will work, what enforcement will look like, and what public-health safeguards the state expects cities and counties to use.

Minnesota legalized adult-use cannabis on May 30, 2023, when Gov. Tim Walz signed the bill, making the state the 23rd in the nation to do so. The Office of Cannabis Management says it expects to hire up to 150 people once fully operational, underscoring how much infrastructure still has to be built as the market matures.

That rollout is already underway. In September 2025, the agency said retail sales of legal adult-use cannabis products were underway across Minnesota and that the state had issued 37 business licenses since June 18, including 23 microbusiness licenses with plans to conduct retail sales. OCM’s Cannabis Market Monitor dashboard now tracks cannabis cultivation, sales activity and licensing with monthly public updates, a sign that state officials are trying to keep the process visible as more businesses move through the pipeline.

The licensing queue is large. As of May 18, 2026, OCM’s summary data listed 1,854 microbusiness applicants, 273 mezzobusiness applicants, 96 cultivator applicants and 83 manufacturer applicants, among other categories. OCM says public application data are posted once applicants become license holders, while some sensitive business and personal information remains exempt from disclosure.

The Bemidji visit also comes after earlier listening-tour stops in Pine County and Duluth, where agency staff met with local officials, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, dispensaries and a state legislator. OCM says more summer events will follow in Mankato and St. Cloud, with a Twin Cities event planned for autumn. The agency is also accepting cannabis event organizer licenses on a rolling basis, and it says cannabis events must be limited to people 21 and older and may not include alcohol sales or consumption.