Just a few years ago, Minnesota made headlines for doing what many believed was progressive, fair, and long overdue: embracing legal cannabis. With a fresh, forward-looking pitch, the state declared its intention to bring cannabis out of the shadows and into a safe, regulated, legal market.
The message was loud and clear:
“We’re done with the black market. Let’s legalize it, tax it fairly, and use the money wisely.”
Fast forward to today, and Minnesotans are asking:
“Were we just high on hope?”
Because the reality we’ve landed in looks more like a legislative SNL skit than sound public policy.
🧾 Let’s Break It Down: A Nearly 25% Tax Rate – And That’s Being Generous
Minnesota didn’t just raise the cannabis excise tax from 10% to 15% — they opened the floodgates for municipalities to stack even more on top.
Here’s what consumers are now staring down at the register:
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15% State Cannabis Excise Tax
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Up to 3% Local Cannabis Tax — cities can impose their own cannabis tax just because they feel like it
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6.875% Statewide Sales Tax
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Additional Local General Sales Taxes in some cities — often another 0.5% to 1%
Yes, you’re reading that correctly. Your legal cannabis or hemp purchase could be taxed at nearly 25%, depending on where you live. That’s before you even calculate credit card fees or store markups.
And it’s not just THC-heavy cannabis.
🎯 This tax structure applies to hemp too.
The same wellness gummies, CBD drops, and non-psychoactive salves that grandma uses for arthritis? They’re being taxed like they’re party drugs.
It’s like taxing chamomile tea like it’s Patron.
This isn't taxation — it's a trapdoor back to the black market.
A State That Couldn’t Manage a Dollar With a Calculator and Two Accountants
Let’s be real: this tax hike isn’t about public health.
It’s about plugging holes in a sinking ship of mismanaged budgets, fraud, and bureaucratic boondoggles.
Here’s a highlight reel of Minnesota’s greatest financial fumbles:
🎪 The Southwest Light Rail Fiasco
Originally budgeted at $1.25 billion, the Southwest Light Rail is now barreling toward a $2.7 billion price tag and is still years behind schedule.
Expected completion? 2031.
Minnesota could build a Mars rover faster than this light rail line.
But sure, let’s tax hemp gummies to make up for it.
🧼 Fraud: The State’s Side Hustle
Minnesota made national headlines for the Feeding Our Future scandal, where scammers walked off with over $250 million in federal pandemic food aid.
We’re talking shell companies buying luxury cars and properties with stolen taxpayer dollars.
The response? Not more oversight.
Instead: "Let’s raise cannabis taxes to cover our mistakes!"
🧠 The Billion-Dollar Education Black Hole
Despite pouring $23 billion into education, Minnesota students are seeing declines in basic math and reading proficiency.
The return on investment? More bureaucracy and less progress.
Apparently, it's easier to slap a 25% tax on legal weed than to demand accountability from an overfunded, underperforming education system.
🏥 Cutting Healthcare While Raising Cannabis Taxes
Minnesota recently decided to roll undocumented adults off the MinnesotaCare program in 2026.
So to recap:
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You’ll pay 25% tax to legally buy wellness hemp.
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Meanwhile, people lose access to basic healthcare.
We’ve officially entered policy clown car territory.
Where Did the Legal Market Dream Go?
Minnesota said it wanted to foster a legal, safe, equitable market for cannabis and hemp. But with a tax rate that rivals alcohol and luxury goods, they’re making that dream impossible.
This tax policy:
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Pushes people back to the black market
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Punishes compliant hemp businesses
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Destroys profit margins for retailers
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Raises prices for consumers in a time of economic strain
And for what?
To help cover multi-billion-dollar policy blunders?
No one voted for legalization plus extortion.
Let’s Talk About the Black Market… Again
Minnesota's nearly 25% tax rate has become the best marketing tool for unlicensed sellers.
They're now offering:
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Lower prices
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No taxes
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No age verification or ID checks
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And fewer legal risks than ever before
This tax policy doesn’t just fail to deter illegal sales—it incentivizes them.
So much for that whole “ending the black market” thing.
Hemp Businesses: The Collateral Damage
While the state parades around its cannabis policy, hemp entrepreneurs — the pioneers of Minnesota’s low-dose market — are being buried under red tape and taxes.
These are the same small businesses who:
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Registered with the state early
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Followed confusing and ever-changing compliance laws
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Invested in testing, marketing, and education
Their reward?
A tax burden that eats up their margins and forces price hikes just to stay afloat.
It’s not regulation. It’s punishment.
Is There Even a Plan? Or Just Vibes?
State officials say they’ll raise:
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$90 million from cannabis excise taxes
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$80 million from repealing clean energy exemptions
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$190 million in new revenue by 2028
But where’s the transparency? The vision?
Where is:
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Funding for equity and BIPOC entrepreneurs?
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Grants for rural and small businesses?
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Workforce development for budtenders and growers?
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Support for addiction recovery and education?
Instead, we get smoke and mirrors — and a sales receipt that looks like it belongs at Saks Fifth Avenue.
Dear Minnesota: We’re Not Mad. Just Deeply, Deeply Disappointed.
Actually, scratch that. We’re mad too.
This was your shot to do it right:
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Model after Massachusetts or Colorado
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Encourage entrepreneurship
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Build a tax policy based on sustainability, not short-term cash grabs
Instead, Minnesota has become a case study in How to Blow a Legal Cannabis Rollout in Three Easy Steps:
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Raise taxes on the very businesses trying to help
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Drive consumers back to the black market
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Fail to reinvest in the community
If there was a Cannabis Policy Olympics, Minnesota just tripped over its own shoelaces in the first heat.
What Needs to Change (Before It’s Too Late)
Here’s what Minnesota must do:
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Roll Back the Excise Tax on Hemp
Hemp is not high-potency cannabis. Stop treating it like contraband. -
Cap Combined Cannabis Taxes at 15%
Total tax — excise + sales + local — should never exceed this threshold. -
Invest Revenue in the Right Places
Not in general budget padding, but in the cannabis ecosystem:-
Grants
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Business support
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Licensing equity
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Education
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Engage the Industry
The people on the ground—growers, manufacturers, retailers—know what’s broken. Ask them. Listen. Partner.
We Deserve Better
Minnesotans didn’t vote for this. Small businesses didn’t build this industry to watch it get torched by tax greed. Consumers didn’t support legalization just to get smacked with 25% at checkout.
We were promised:
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Safe, legal access
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Economic opportunity
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Equity and fairness
What we got is:
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Budget band-aids
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Policy gaslighting
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And a tax structure that belongs in a dystopian novel
It’s not just unfair. It’s un-Minnesotan.
