Minnesota cannabis rules for visitors

Adults 21 and older may possess or transport up to 2 ounces of adult-use cannabis flower in a public place, keep up to 2 pounds of flower in their private residence, and possess or transport up to 8 grams of concentrate and edible cannabis products or lower-potency hemp edibles with a combined total of 800 milligrams of THC (Minn. Stat. 342.09, subd. 1). The same amounts cap a single retail sale: 2 ounces of flower, 8 grams of concentrate and 800 milligrams of THC in edibles per transaction (342.27, subd. 2). Minnesota sets no lower limit for visitors, and an adult may give another adult 21 or older up to the public amounts as long as no money changes hands.

Stores accept a valid driver's license or ID from any U.S. state or a Canadian province, a U.S. passport, a Tribal ID or, for foreign nationals, a valid passport, and must check it before every sale (342.27, subd. 4). State law allows use only in a private residence, on private property not open to the public where the owner allows it, or at a licensed on-site consumption venue or event (342.09, subd. 1); Duluth bans use in public places and St. Paul bans smoking it in city parks. No one may use it in a motor vehicle, and opened or unpackaged product must ride in the trunk (169A.36). Federal land such as Voyageurs National Park and the Boundary Waters and flights out of MSP fall under federal law, where adult-use marijuana is still Schedule I, and carrying cannabis across a state line or the Canadian border is illegal.

The regulator is the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management. Check any shop's license on the state license lookup before you buy.

Adults 21 and older may carry up to 2 ounces of adult-use cannabis flower in a public place and keep up to 2 pounds at their private residence. They may also possess or transport up to 8 grams of adult-use cannabis concentrate, plus edible cannabis products or lower-potency hemp edibles infused with a combined total of 800 milligrams or less of THC (Minn. Stat. 342.09, subd. 1). Visitors get the same limits as residents, because the statute draws no line by residency. OCM's consumer page restates the same four numbers.

A licensed store may sell one customer, in a single transaction, up to 2 ounces of flower, up to 8 grams of concentrate, and edibles and hemp edibles infused with up to 800 milligrams of THC (342.27, subd. 2). It may not knowingly sell more than a customer may legally possess, sell to anyone visibly intoxicated, give products away, run a drive-through or use vending machines (342.27, subd. 12). OCM's rule adds that no single transaction may exceed what the customer can legally transport (Minn. R. 9810.2501, subp. 6).

Product caps shape what is on the shelf. Adult-use edibles may hold no more than 10 milligrams of THC per serving and 200 milligrams per package, and cannabis drinks no more than 10 milligrams per serving and two servings per container (342.27, subd. 2). Lower-potency hemp edibles, the hemp-derived THC products that liquor stores, bars and other licensed shops may also sell, are smaller: 5 milligrams of delta-9 THC per serving and 50 milligrams per package for foods, and 10 milligrams per single-serving drink (342.01, subd. 50; 342.62). Since August 1, 2026, multi-serving hemp drink bottles of at least 750 milliliters may hold up to 17 servings of 5 milligrams each (Laws 2026, ch. 123).

Gifts are legal between adults: anyone 21 or older may give another adult 21 or older up to 2 ounces of flower, 8 grams of concentrate or an edible with 800 milligrams of THC, as long as nothing is paid (342.09, subd. 1). Selling without a license is not legal at any amount; an unlicensed sale of 2 ounces or less is a petty misdemeanor, and larger sales are crimes (152.0264). Businesses may not hand out free samples except at licensed events, where a sample is capped at 1 gram of flower or concentrate, or 10 milligrams of THC in an edible (342.40, subd. 7a).

You must be 21 or older to buy, possess or use adult-use cannabis or hemp edibles, and a store must verify that a customer is at least 21 before starting a sale (342.09, subd. 1; 342.27, subd. 4). OCM's retail rule requires the check at every sale and a 'No persons under 21 allowed' sign at each entrance to the sales area (Minn. R. 9810.2501). Registered medical patients and caregivers may also enter the retail area, and OCM says adults 18 and older may enroll in the medical registry on their own.

Minnesota spells out which documents count, and only these: a valid driver's license or ID card from Minnesota, another state or a Canadian province with a photo and birth date; a valid Tribal identification card; a valid U.S. passport; a valid Minnesota instructional permit with a photo for a person of legal age; or, for a foreign national, a valid passport (342.27, subd. 4). The list does not name military IDs or driver's licenses from countries other than Canada, so for an overseas visitor the passport is the accepted document. Stores may seize an ID they believe is altered or falsified and must give it to police within 24 hours.

There is no residency requirement. The ID list itself accepts out-of-state and Canadian cards and foreign passports, and the possession limits in 342.09 apply to any adult 21 or older. Online and phone preorders are allowed, but the store must collect the buyer's name, address, phone number, email address and date of birth, then check the same accepted ID at pickup before handing over the order (Minn. R. 9810.2501, subp. 5). Payment with an electronic benefits transfer card is not allowed.

Hemp edibles follow the same age rule wherever they are sold. A lower-potency hemp edible retailer, including a liquor store or bar with an OCM license, must verify that the customer is at least 21 before a sale or delivery, using the same list of IDs (342.46, subd. 3), and may not sell to anyone visibly intoxicated (342.46, subd. 7). An adult who sells cannabis or hemp edibles to a minor faces up to 364 days in jail and a $3,000 fine (152.0264, subd. 2), and up to five years and $10,000 if the sale exceeds 2 ounces of flower, 8 grams of concentrate or 800 milligrams of THC and the seller is more than three years older (152.0264, subd. 1).

State law lists three places where adults 21 and older may use cannabis: a private residence, including its yard; private property that is not generally open to the public, unless the owner prohibits it; and the premises of an establishment or event licensed for on-site consumption (342.09, subd. 1). OCM's consumer page describes the rule the same way. Streets, sidewalks and parks are not on the list, and cities decide the penalty for using cannabis there.

Several blanket bans also apply. No one may use cannabis in a motor vehicle, at a public or charter school, in a state prison, or anywhere the smoke or vapor would be inhaled by a minor, and smoking or vaping is barred wherever the Clean Indoor Air Act bans smoking (342.09, subd. 1). That Act covers indoor public places, workplaces and public transportation, and it defines smoking to include marijuana and electronic delivery devices (144.413, 144.414). Smoking or vaping adult-use products inside a multifamily housing building, balconies and patios included, carries a $250 civil fine (342.56, subd. 1).

Local rules decide what happens in public. State law lets a city or county make public use a petty misdemeanor (152.0263, subd. 5), which carries a fine of up to $300 (609.02, subd. 4a). Duluth's code bans using cannabis, hemp edibles or hemp-derived products in any public place or place of public accommodation, and it defines public place to include public parks, trails, streets and sidewalks (City Code 8A-3, 8A-7). St. Paul makes smoking tobacco, cannabis or hemp products in city parks, or within 25 feet of the entrances of public places and workplaces, a petty misdemeanor after a request to stop (Legislative Code ch. 222).

Minneapolis's city pages say the Clean Indoor Air Act bans smoking, cannabis included, in indoor bars, restaurants and other indoor public places, and state law does not list streets, sidewalks or riverfront parks among the places where adults may use cannabis (342.09, subd. 1). Local governments may not ban the possession, transport or use that state law allows (342.13). On federal land outside Indian Country, including national parks and federal courthouses, OCM says possession and use remain illegal.

Only if the hotel allows it. Minnesota's Clean Indoor Air Act does not prohibit smoking in a hotel or motel sleeping room rented to guests (144.4167, subd. 3), and its definition of smoking includes cannabis and vaping (144.413). But state law lets adults use cannabis on private property that is not open to the public only when the owner has not prohibited it (342.09, subd. 1), so a hotel's no-smoking or no-cannabis policy controls your room. Each hotel sets its own cannabis and smoking policy.

Common areas are different. Lobbies, restaurants, bars, pools and hallways used by the public are indoor public places or workplaces where smoking and vaping are banned (144.413, 144.414), and none of them is a place where state law allows cannabis use. In Duluth, the city code bans use in any public place or place of public accommodation unless the premises is licensed for on-site consumption, and it defines a place of public accommodation as any business, accommodation, refreshment, entertainment, recreation or transportation facility offered to the public (City Code 8A-3, 8A-7); the code does not say how this applies to a rented guest room.

Vacation rentals work the same way, with one more rule. A short-term rental is private property, so the owner's terms govern (342.09, subd. 1). If the unit is in an apartment or condominium building, smoking or vaping adult-use cannabis anywhere in the building, including balconies and patios, is banned and can bring a $250 civil fine that OCM may assess (342.56, subd. 1; OCM adult-use page). Edibles avoid the smoke rules, not the owner's rules.

Delivery to a room is possible. Six cannabis delivery service licenses and 135 hemp retailer sites with delivery endorsements appear on OCM's September 28, 2026 list, and a driver must hand the order to the named customer in person after checking government-issued photo ID and getting a signature (Minn. R. 9810.2600). The rules do not bar hotel addresses, but a hotel may still forbid cannabis on its property, and the business must receive payment before the delivery is made (Minn. R. 9810.2600, subp. 3).

Minnesota has no smoking lounges, but you can drink hemp-derived THC beverages at bars and restaurants that hold OCM's on-site consumption endorsement. OCM's on-site consumption guide names three paths: a cannabis microbusiness with retail and on-site consumption endorsements may serve adult-use edibles; a lower-potency hemp edible retailer with an on-site endorsement may serve hemp edibles and drinks; and a licensed cannabis event may allow flower. OCM says smoking or vaping is strictly prohibited at retail locations that permit on-site consumption and anywhere the Clean Indoor Air Act would be violated.

A microbusiness consumption area must be distinct from the rest of the business with its own entrance, admit no one under 21, and keep consumption out of view from outside. Products must be served in their packaging, may not leave the area once sold, and no alcohol or tobacco may be sold or used on the premises; food and live entertainment are allowed with local permits (342.28, subd. 10). OCM's September 28, 2026 spreadsheet does not show which microbusinesses hold the endorsement.

At bars and restaurants, on-site consumption is limited to hemp THC drinks and edibles served under an OCM on-site consumption endorsement. OCM must issue an on-site consumption endorsement to any hemp edible retailer that also holds an on-sale liquor license, and since May 27, 2026 it may issue one to a retailer without a liquor license that files proof of liability insurance (342.46, subd. 8). The September 28, 2026 list shows 539 hemp retailer sites with an on-site endorsement. Those venues may not sell hemp products designed to be mixed with alcohol or pour from multi-serving bottles for drinking on site, and exclusive liquor stores may sell hemp edibles to go (340A.412, subd. 14).

Cannabis events need an OCM event organizer license and local approval, last no more than four days, admit only adults 21 and older, and may set aside a consumption area that is hidden from public view and allows no alcohol or tobacco; smoking is permitted only where the Clean Indoor Air Act allows it (342.39, 342.40). Duluth allows temporary cannabis events only at Bayfront Festival Park between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. (City Code 8A-9). OCM announced its first event organizer license, for Legacy Cup in Minneapolis, in September 2025, and from January 1, 2027 the license becomes annual.

No one may use cannabis, hemp edibles or hemp-derived products in a motor vehicle in Minnesota, driver or passenger (342.09, subd. 1). The open package law makes it a misdemeanor to use any of them in a vehicle on a street or highway, or to carry them in packaging that does not meet state rules, has been opened or unsealed, or has been partly emptied, unless the package is in the trunk or, in a vehicle without one, an area not normally occupied by the driver and passengers (169A.36). A glove compartment does not count.

Rideshares and taxis offer no exception. Taxis, limousines and other for-hire vehicles are public transportation under the Clean Indoor Air Act, where smoking is banned (144.413, 144.414), and the statewide ban on use in a motor vehicle covers passengers (342.09). OCM's safer use guide states the storage rule simply: products must be in the trunk or rear cargo area unless they are in their original, sealed and labeled packaging. A misdemeanor carries up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine (609.03).

Driving while impaired by cannabis is a crime. Minnesota's DWI law covers anyone under the influence of cannabis flower, cannabis products, hemp edibles, hemp-derived products, artificially derived cannabinoids or THC, and it excludes cannabis from the rule that any amount of a Schedule I or II drug in the body is a violation (169A.20, subd. 1). Minnesota therefore sets no THC blood level; impairment is the test. A fourth-degree DWI, the base offense, is a misdemeanor (169A.27), and refusing a chemical test is its own crime (169A.20, subd. 2).

Edible effects start slowly and can last many hours. OCM's guide says eaten or swallowed products take 30 minutes to 2 hours to take effect, and the Minneapolis Health Department says the high from an edible usually lasts 12 hours or longer. Stores must post a notice that operating a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicating cannabinoids is illegal (342.27, subd. 6), and no Minnesota cannabis store may run a drive-through window (342.27, subd. 12).

Not across a state line or the Canadian border, and not with adult-use cannabis on a flight. Federal law governs airports and flights, and carrying cannabis across a state line or the Canadian border is illegal. Minneapolis-St. Paul International prohibits smoking in all interior spaces, in all forms including cannabis and electronic devices, and the Metropolitan Airports Commission's conduct ordinance makes smoking where signs prohibit it a misdemeanor (MSP FAQs; MAC Ordinance 58). OCM's consumer page lists airports among the places where cannabis cannot be used or possessed. TSA's medical marijuana page, last updated April 27, 2026, lists medical marijuana as 'Yes (Special Instructions)' for carry-on and checked bags, but says officers refer any illegal substance found at screening to law enforcement.

The flight itself is a federal matter. The FAA's 2022 compliance letter calls marijuana a Schedule I controlled substance and says its cultivation, storage or distribution is prohibited on federally obligated airport property regardless of state law. Federal simple possession carries up to a year in prison and a minimum $1,000 fine for a first offense (21 U.S.C. 844). The DEA's April 28, 2026 rule moved only FDA-approved products and state-licensed medical marijuana to Schedule III, so adult-use purchases remain Schedule I.

Every neighboring state still punishes possession, and OCM warns that carrying cannabis across state lines is a federal crime even between states that allow it. Wisconsin punishes a first conviction for possessing THC with up to a $1,000 fine and 6 months in jail and makes a second a Class I felony (Wis. Stat. 961.41(3g)(e)). Iowa allows up to 6 months in county jail and a $1,000 fine for a first marijuana possession offense (Iowa Code 124.401(5)). South Dakota makes 2 ounces or less a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine (SDCL 22-42-6, 22-6-2).

North Dakota treats possession of less than half an ounce of marijuana as an infraction, half an ounce to 500 grams as a Class B misdemeanor and more than 500 grams as a Class A misdemeanor (N.D.C.C. 19-03.1-23(7)). Canada is strict at the border despite its own legal market: the Canada Border Services Agency says it remains illegal to take cannabis across the border in either direction and that travelers entering Canada must declare any they carry, and the Cannabis Act allows up to 14 years in prison for unauthorized import or export (S.C. 2018, c. 16, s. 11).

Not on federal land, and on Tribal land it depends on Tribal law. Park Service regulations bar possessing a controlled substance unless it was obtained by prescription from a practitioner or is otherwise allowed by federal or state law (36 CFR 2.35), and Voyageurs National Park's superintendent's compendium, whose 2.35 entry addresses only alcohol, adds no cannabis rule of its own. OCM's safer use guide says possession and use remain illegal on all federally owned and managed lands outside Indian Country, including national parks, federal courthouses and federally subsidized housing. Federal simple possession carries up to a year in prison and a minimum $1,000 fine for a first offense (21 U.S.C. 844).

The Park Service sites in Minnesota include Voyageurs, a park of 218,000 acres of lakes, forests and streams established in 1975; Grand Portage and Pipestone National Monuments; the 72-mile Mississippi National River and Recreation Area in the Twin Cities, where the Park Service itself holds only about 65 acres and its rules do not reach the city, county, state or private land along the banks; and the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness lies in Superior National Forest, a three-million-acre forest established in 1909, where Forest Service rules prohibit possessing any controlled substance in violation of federal law (36 CFR 261.10(p); 21 U.S.C. 844).

Tribal land follows Tribal law. OCM says lawful possession and use on Tribally regulated land depends on the code or laws of each Minnesota Tribal government, and the state may not license a cannabis business in Indian country without the Tribe's consent (342.13). OCM reports that Tribal Nations began opening adult-use and medical dispensaries on Tribally owned land in August 2023. The Leech Lake Band's Sweetest Grass, established in 2024, runs stores in Cass Lake and Walker, and sales on Tribally regulated land by Tribally licensed businesses are exempt from the state cannabis tax (295.81, subd. 4).

Compacts now let Tribes sell off reservation. The state has signed compacts or cooperative agreements with nine of the 11 Tribal Nations sharing territory with Minnesota, starting with White Earth Nation on May 20, 2025. OCM says Tribes that negotiated off-reservation activity may open up to eight off-reservation retail stores, which follow local zoning and operating hours similar to chapter 342 and collect state and local taxes. The federal picture has not changed for these sales: the DEA's April 28, 2026 rule moved only FDA-approved marijuana products and marijuana under a state medical marijuana license to Schedule III, and the separate hearing on rescheduling marijuana more broadly was stayed on September 29, 2026 while a motion is decided.

Yes, from licensed delivery services. A cannabis delivery service license lets the holder buy from licensed retailers and from microbusinesses and mezzobusinesses with retail endorsements, then deliver flower, cannabis products, hemp edibles and hemp-derived products to customers (342.41). OCM's September 28, 2026 list shows six delivery service licenses, based in Minneapolis, Bloomington, Plymouth, Detroit Lakes and Aitkin. Hemp edible retailers with OCM's delivery endorsement may deliver hemp products too (342.46, subd. 1b), and 135 hemp retailer sites on the list hold one.

The handoff is strict. The driver must confirm that the customer is 21 or older using the same ID list as stores (342.42, subd. 1), deliver in person to the customer named on the order, see government-issued photo ID and get a signature on the manifest, and refuse the delivery if any of that fails or the order was not paid in advance (Minn. R. 9810.2600). A driver may carry no more than $5,000 of products on one route (Minn. R. 9810.2600, subp. 2), products must ride in a locked compartment out of sight, and only delivery workers 21 or older may ride in the vehicle (342.42).

Ordering ahead for pickup is the other option. Stores may take orders and payment online, by app or by phone, then check the buyer's ID against the name on the order at pickup (Minn. R. 9810.2501, subp. 5). Minnesota bans drive-through windows at cannabis stores (342.27, subd. 12), but a store with a medical retail endorsement may hand medical cannabis to a visiting patient in a designated zone near its front door, recorded on camera (342.51, subd. 2a).

A hotel address is not excluded by the rules, but anything delivered adds to what the buyer holds, and outside a private residence the limits are 2 ounces of flower, 8 grams of concentrate and 800 milligrams of THC in edibles (342.09); a hotel may also forbid cannabis on its property. Cities also shape where delivery businesses operate; St. Paul allows delivery services only in certain business, industrial and Ford districts. A medical cannabis delivery endorsement for delivery services takes effect January 1, 2027 (Laws 2026, ch. 123).

Yes, if you live here. Up to eight cannabis plants, no more than four of them mature and flowering, may be grown at a single residence without a license, but only at the primary residence of a person 21 or older and only in an enclosed, locked space that is not open to public view (342.09, subd. 2). A hotel room or vacation rental is not a visitor's primary residence. OCM's consumer page and safer use guide repeat the same eight-plant, four-flowering rule.

Medical caregivers get more room: a registered designated caregiver may grow up to eight plants for one patient household in addition to eight for personal adult use, with no more than eight of the 16 mature and flowering (342.09, subd. 2). Licensed stores may sell immature plants and seedlings to adults 21 and older (342.27, subd. 2), and extracting concentrate at home with a volatile solvent is prohibited without a license (342.09, subd. 3).

Penalties rise with the plant count. OCM may impose a civil penalty of up to $500 for each plant grown over the limit (342.09, subd. 6). Cultivating more than 16 plants but no more than 23 is punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a $3,000 fine, and more than 23 plants by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine (152.0265). Homegrown cannabis may be given to other adults within the gifting limits but never sold without a license (342.09, subd. 4).

Adult-use cannabis carries a 15 percent gross receipts tax on retail sales of taxable cannabis products, which include flower, cannabis products, vape cartridges, hemp-derived consumer products and lower-potency hemp edibles (Minn. Stat. 295.81). The rate rose from 10 percent for sales made after June 30, 2025 (Laws 2025, 1st Spec. Sess., ch. 13, art. 3, sec. 3). The Department of Revenue says these products also pay the 6.875 percent state general sales tax and any local sales taxes where the sale takes place.

Local sales tax varies. The Department of Revenue's guide for October 1 to December 31, 2026 lists a combined general sales tax of 9.025 percent in Minneapolis and Bloomington, 9.875 percent in St. Paul, 8.525 percent at MSP airport, 8.875 percent in Duluth, 8.125 percent in Rochester and 7.875 percent in Moorhead. The 15 percent cannabis tax is charged in addition. Cities and counties may not add a tax that falls only on cannabis (295.82), so Minnesota has no separate municipal cannabis tax.

Some purchases are exempt. Medical items bought by or for a patient enrolled in Minnesota's registry are exempt from the cannabis tax (295.81, subd. 4), and OCM says medical products are exempt from state and local sales taxes as well. Visiting patients from other states may buy medical products, but OCM notes that the reciprocity carries no tax exemption. Sales on Tribally regulated land by a Tribally licensed business are exempt from the state cannabis tax (295.81, subd. 4), while off-reservation Tribal stores collect state and local taxes.

Stores may pass the 15 percent tax to the buyer only if it is stated separately on the receipt (295.81, subd. 2). Delivery charges and packaging costs count as gross receipts, and a bundled sale that includes a taxable cannabis product is taxed on its whole price. Cannabis bought elsewhere and brought into Minnesota can owe use tax at the same rate, but purchases that a customer carries in and that cost $100 or less in a calendar month are exempt (295.81, subd. 1, 3, 4).

Yes, at stores with a medical retail endorsement. Under the 2025 law, a visiting patient, meaning a non-resident with a valid medical cannabis or marijuana registration card or its equivalent from another state, district, commonwealth, territory or Tribal program, may receive medical cannabis flower and medical cannabinoid products from a business holding a medical cannabis retail endorsement (342.01, subd. 71; 342.51, subd. 2a). The patient must show the card plus a valid photo ID from the program, a driver's license or a state ID.

The store must put a patient-specific label with dosage information on every product and report each visiting-patient sale to OCM weekly, including the patient's name and program (342.51, subd. 2a). OCM's 2025 summary says this reciprocity does not include a tax exemption, so visiting patients pay the 15 percent cannabis tax and sales tax. On OCM's September 28, 2026 list, 55 of 234 retail sites are marked for medical cannabis retail, among them all eight Green Goods and all eight RISE stores.

Registered Minnesota patients have different rules. The possession limits do not apply to a person enrolled in Minnesota's registry who carries products with patient-specific labels (342.09, subd. 1), enrollment lasts three years (342.52), and OCM says adults 18 and older may enroll on their own. That exemption is written for people enrolled in the Minnesota registry under 342.52, so by its terms it does not reach visiting patients, and the adult-use limits of 2 ounces of flower in public, 8 grams of concentrate and 800 milligrams of THC apply to them.

The program predates the adult-use market. A law signed May 29, 2014 created it and required manufacturers to begin supplying patients by July 1, 2015 (Laws 2014, ch. 311). Administration moved from the Department of Health to OCM in July 2024, OCM says, and more than 59,000 Minnesotans were in the program in September 2025. From January 1, 2027, the 2026 law merges the medical and adult-use supply chains while keeping the registry, patient consultations and the medical tax exemption.

Carrying a little too much is a petty offense. Possessing more than 2 but no more than 4 ounces of flower outside your residence, more than 8 but no more than 16 grams of concentrate, or edibles with more than 800 but no more than 1,600 milligrams of THC is a petty misdemeanor (152.0263, subd. 4), which carries a fine of up to $300 and no jail (609.02, subd. 4a). St. Paul's park and entrance smoking ban is also a petty misdemeanor, and Duluth enforces its public use ban through administrative citations (City Code 8A, 12-2).

Larger amounts are crimes. More than 4 ounces up to 1 pound of flower outside a residence, more than 16 up to 80 grams of concentrate, or more than 1,600 milligrams up to 8 grams of THC in edibles is third-degree possession, punishable by up to 90 days and a $1,000 fine. More than 1 up to 2 pounds outside a residence, more than 80 up to 160 grams of concentrate or more than 8 up to 16 grams of THC is second degree, up to 364 days and $3,000. More than 2 pounds up to 10 kilograms of flower is first degree, up to five years and $10,000 (152.0263).

Car mistakes are misdemeanors. Using cannabis in a vehicle on a street or highway, or carrying opened or unpackaged product outside the trunk, violates the open package law (169A.36), and impaired driving starts as a misdemeanor (169A.27); a misdemeanor carries up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine (609.03). Smoking or vaping in an apartment or condominium building can bring OCM's $250 civil fine (342.56, subd. 1), and a store that sells to a visibly intoxicated person breaks its license rules (342.27, subd. 12).

Selling is treated more harshly than possessing. An unlicensed sale of 2 ounces or less is a petty misdemeanor, a larger sale is punishable by up to 90 days and $1,000, selling any amount to a minor by up to 364 days and $3,000, and selling more than 2 ounces to a minor by an adult more than three years older by up to five years and $10,000 (152.0264). OCM may also fine an unlicensed seller up to $3,000 or three times the retail value, whichever is greater, for 2 ounces or less of flower (342.09, subd. 6). Products from an unlicensed seller fall outside the state testing that licensed products must pass before sale (342.61).

Check OCM's licensee spreadsheet. The version dated September 28, 2026 lists 234 cannabis retail sites under 210 licenses in 127 cities, from microbusinesses and mezzobusinesses with retail operations to standalone retailers and the two medical cannabis combination businesses, Green Goods and RISE. Minneapolis has 23 sites, St. Paul 18, Moorhead 7, Duluth 5 and Rochester 4. A second sheet lists 3,029 lower-potency hemp edible retailer sites, the bars, liquor stores and shops licensed to sell hemp edibles and drinks.

Licensed stores share visible rules. Each must post 'No persons under 21 allowed' at each entrance to the sales area and check ID at every sale (Minn. R. 9810.2501), post notices that driving under the influence of intoxicating cannabinoids is illegal and that products are only for adults 21 and older (342.27, subd. 6), and keep everything except one display sample of each item in secure storage (342.27, subd. 5), except that since August 1, 2026 a store with a cannabis flower packaging endorsement may keep bulk flower for packaging at the point of sale outside secure storage during business hours (342.27, subd. 2a). Customers may smell a display sample, but samples are never sold.

Hours are capped by state law: no sales between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. Monday through Saturday or between 2 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Sunday, and a city or county may also bar sales for any period between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m., or between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday (342.27, subd. 7). Duluth limits registered cannabis stores to 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day and allows seven retail registrations, all of them filled (City Code 8A-4, 8A-5; Duluth City Clerk). Local governments may cap stores at no fewer than one registration per 12,500 residents (342.13).

Tribal stores are licensed by Tribal regulators and do not appear on OCM's spreadsheet; OCM says off-reservation Tribal stores must meet state packaging, labeling and testing standards under the compacts. Anyone selling cannabis or hemp edibles without a license that authorizes the sale is breaking state law (342.09, subd. 4). Hemp shops need an OCM lower-potency hemp edible retailer license, may sell only hemp edibles and hemp topicals, and may not sell cannabis flower or cannabis products (342.46, subd. 6, 7).