Tuesday raid of Faribault cannibis shop shows Minnesota laws still unclear

Although recreational marijuana was officially legalized in Minnesota as of Aug. 1, the state legislature left a lot of confusion about how it can be grown and marketed in the real world.

Matt Little, a partner at Midwest Extraction Services in Waseca, says local law enforcement on Tuesday raided Total Tobacco, where 22 plants were being held at a smoke shop for customer pickup.

The Faribault Police Department says the plants they seized were labeled by strain or by THC concentration that exceeds the limit allowed for legally grown industrial hemp. Officers investigated the incident as a violation of Minnesota’s newly enacted marijuana statutes, and seized the plants based on probable cause. No arrests were made.

Little says the plants were grown under the Minnesota hemp license. Home growing became legal on August 1, but the laws on how the public could obtain the plants are ambiguous.

After contacting the city council and attorney and showing up in person at the Faribault police station, Little said he was finally able to meet with Chief of Police John Sherwin.

“John and I had a great conversation; I get where he’s coming from,” said Little. “It really does come from an educational standpoint. It’s very unclear which laws are out there and what you can and cannot legally do.”

“The Faribault Police Department is committed to supporting businesses engaged in the legal sale of cannabis and cannabis-related products once the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management is established,” said Sherwin in a written statement. “Until that time, unauthorized sales of cannabis will be investigated in accordance with state law.”

Little says he’s hoping to see more clear rules and regulations, but also to have more conversations to educate law enforcement and municipalities. Little has requested the return of his plants, which are valued at about $2,000.

(This article includes information from Southern Minnesota News and Learfield News.)