Moorhead is Taking Steps To Comply With New Cannabis Laws

MOORHEAD, Minn. (KVRR) — Moorhead City Council is taking the first steps to allow the legal sale of cannabis.

They passed the first reading of an ordinance to make changes to regulations, conditional use requirements and offenses related to drug paraphernalia.

State licensing for cannabis-related businesses will begin in 2025 after the Office of Cannabis Management issues its requirements.

The new state law also lifted criminal penalties for adult possession and home cultivation of
cannabis, and legalized drug paraphernalia in Minnesota.

A city cannabis work group is not recommending any license limits or buffers at this time but they will monitor license-holders.

“We have not determined whether the city is going to require a registration process, I’m thinking we probably will cause it’s a very simple process. The state would just verify zoning and then we would add them to the list but we don’t have to bring it to council. So we would have a list of who’s doing what in the community,” said Robin Huston, city planner and zoning administrator for Moorhead.

Houston also expects there to be compliance checks just as there are for tobacco and alcohol sales.