Instead of putting the finishing touches on their businesses in anticipation of Minnesota’s adult-use market launch early this year, cannabis license applicants instead face delays and uncertainty.

But if entrepreneurs’ patience and capital lasts long enough to win a license and hold on until Minnesota’s recreational cannabis launch – now projected for early 2026 – their reward will be a robust market brimming with opportunity and innovation, according to observers of the state’s regulated marijuana market.

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“I think that we still have a really robust local industry,” said attorney Leili Fatehi, principal at Blunt Strategies, a Minnesota cannabis consulting firm.

“We have a lot of alignment of purpose and values with the regulators as well as with the legislators.

“There is a common

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(This story first appeared in the November-December issue of MJBizMagazine.)

California cannabis brand Breez has stayed true to its core mission of providing access to medical marijuana patients and recreational consumers since it was established in 2015.

That ethos led Austin and Anna Hice, the brand’s husband-and-wife management team, to develop THC-infused tablets and mints in a widely recognized form factor.

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It also prompted the co-founders to launch direct-to-consumer delivery – particularly targeting the state’s vast cannabis deserts, where cities and counties still prohibit marijuana operations nearly eight years after voters legalized MJ cultivation and retail sales.

“It’s all about accessibility,” Austin Hice told MJBizMagazine during a phone interview.

Demand for delivery

Though about 95% of Breez products are sold through retail, delivery

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(This column first appeared in the November-December issue of MJBizMagazine. To be considered as an MJBizDaily guest columnist, please submit your request here.)

Beau Whitney (Courtesy photo)

The macroeconomic environment has a huge impact on cannabis investment opportunities.

While recent years have been rough for the industry, the future looks somewhat less turbulent as macroeconomic pressures on cannabis businesses alleviate.

A few years out from COVID-19, the industry is exiting a period of abnormally high sales driven by pandemic purchasing.

Demand is more predictable, and consumers are returning to pre-pandemic behaviors.

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Still, some critical business operations will continue to be influenced by macroeconomics – and how companies respond to these factors will ultimately decide the health of their cannabis businesses.

Cost of inputs

Many companies have experienced

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