A Minnesota city may soon start selling cannabis like it does liquor: via a city-run store.
The City Council in Osseo, a city of fewer than 2,700 people about 15 miles northwest of downtown Minneapolis, approved plans on Monday to open a municipal cannabis store, CCX Media first reported.
It would be only the second known non-tribal example of a government-run cannabis retail outlet in the U.S.
A publicly owned marijuana store operated in North Bonneville, Washington, from 2015 to 2021, and a growing number of tribal governments run cannabis outlets in the state, where tribal products can also be sold in privately owned, state-regulated stores.
Despite nationwide resistance to publicly owned cannabis, Osseo is one of at least 13 cities in Minnesota, where non-tribal adult-use cannabis sales began last month, that are considering a state-run sales model, the MinnPost reported in August.
In Osseo, city officials signed off on using a city-owned former newspaper building to house a municipal cannabis store, City Council meeting documents show.
Should city or state governments sell marijuana like alcohol in government-run stores?
Several states have flirted with the idea of controlling cannabis sales in a manner similar to how certain states manage liquor sales, but so far, the idea has failed to catch on. This spring, opposition to a state-run model helped thwart an adult-use marijuana legalization proposal in Pennsylvania.
Seventeen states “control” liquor sales, either by state-run outlets or state-overseen wholesale, according to the National Alcoholic Beverage Control Association.
According to the City Council and to CCX Media, the store would be run by a third party called Voyageur Cannabis Services.
Exactly when it could open – and what form it would take – are still unclear.
A contract with Voyageur to run the city-owned store has yet to be presented and approved, according to the council.
With state cannabis regulators slow to approve permits – and with cultivation licenses in particular lagging behind demand – Minnesota cannabis permits are currently selling for a premium.
Total statewide sales could reach $430 million by the end of 2026, according to an MJBizFactbook projection.
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