Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced Monday that the Office of Cannabis Management Interim Director Charlene Briner is stepping down from her role.
The move comes after Briner helped build OCM from its inception in 2023, and while Briner’s interim position is coming to a close, the state has yet to find a permanent suiter for the role, according to Walz’s announcement. Instead, OCM General Counsel Eric Taubel will take charge as interim director.
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Walz also commended Briner on her efforts in starting the department, which now employs more than 100 people.
“Briner has gotten Minnesota’s emerging cannabis industry off the ground in a safe and responsible way,” Walz said. “It’s no easy task to build a regulatory framework around an entirely new industry from scratch, but under Charlene’s leadership, Minnesota laid the foundation for a successful marketplace for years to come.”
While Briner’s departure comes as recreational dispensaries are still in the early days of licensure, elected officials say they’re confident in Taubel’s ability to get the ball rolling this year.
“As Eric Taubel steps in to fill this role, he will match her commitment and expertise, utilizing his outstanding legal acumen and strategic vision to ensure an equitable industry that prioritizes public health and maintains market integrity,” Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan wrote in a release.
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Briner’s departure also comes as OCM’s social equity cannabis business license process caused scrutiny. The state was sued after roughly 1,200 social equity applications were denied access to the Minnesota cannabis license lottery. A Ramsey County District Court judge delayed the lottery originally scheduled for Nov. 26.
In a December statement, OCM said it’s ending the preapproval licensing process and is going into its standard licensing cycle for both general and social equity applicants.
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“This step allows the office to prevent delays to the market launch due to ongoing litigation and retain some benefit to social equity by allowing applicants for license preapprovals to move into this new round,” the OCM’s December release states.
The nearly 650 preapproved social equity applicants automatically moved forward to the next step in the licensing process, according to an OCM statement.
Corey Schmidt covers politics and courts for the St. Cloud Times. He can be reached at cschmidt@gannett.com.
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