Cannabis businesses in rural Rice County paused until 2025

Inside incorporated cities of Rice County, businesses that are part of the cannabis industry are still permitted to operate. In the rural areas though, they’re likely to wait until next year.

The moratorium was placed by the Rice County Board of Commissioners Tuesday morning during a regular business meeting. It’s purpose is to give county staff enough time to study how Rice County cities have approached regulation of cannabis businesses. Cannabis is also known as marijuana, recreational use of which was made legal in Minnesota last year.

Counties and cities may have a set number of licenses to give out allowing cannabis businesses to operate. However, a cap on any of these entities could impact the other entities’ caps.

Commissioners determined it was best to test the waters before letting the industry run wild, authorizing the study to see if and how its incorporated cities have regulated the industry.

While that study is conducted, cannabis businesses are not permitted to open in rural Rice County until 2025, or if the board ends the moratorium prematurely.

A brief public hearing was held before passing the interim moratorium, during which one member of the public expressed discontent for the cannabis industry as a whole, arguing it loses money for governments that legalize it and that it’s “only added to destruction to society.”

According to Marijuana Policy Project, a research and advocacy group for the industry, states have raked in more than $20 billion in marijuana taxes since the industry took off 10 years ago.