XPost: talk.politics.guns, mn.politics, alt.politics.democrats   
   XPost: sac.politics   
   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   Gov. Tim Walz's choice to lead Minnesota's new cannabis office quit the   
   job Friday, just a day after she was appointed, following revelations that   
   she had sold illegal products at her hemp shop.   
      
   Erin DuPree told the DFL governor she would "not be going forward" as   
   director of the Office of Cannabis Management. The Star Tribune had first   
   reported on her hemp shop's sale of illegal products earlier in the day.   
      
   "Conducting lawful business has been an objective of my business career,"   
   DuPree said in a statement Friday evening. "However, it has become clear   
   that I have become a distraction that would stand in the way of the   
   important work that needs to be done."   
      
   Loonacy Cannabis Co., which DuPree founded in Apple Valley in July 2022,   
   advertised and sold noncompliant vapes and edible products containing more   
   THC than is legally allowed, according to the store's social media videos   
   and online product listings that have since been deleted.   
      
   Lab results for the products, still visible on Loonacy's website, show   
   that some contained elevated THC levels that are illegal and synthetic   
   ingredients that are banned.   
      
   "We have a responsibility to assure Minnesotans that this emerging market   
   will be safe, lawful, and well-regulated," Walz said in a statement Friday   
   evening. "We're making progress toward implementing this work."   
      
   In a news release only a day earlier, Walz's office praised DuPree as a   
   leader who has a record of "maintaining compliance with state laws and   
   regulations." As director of the Office of Cannabis Management, DuPree   
   would have been tasked with overseeing the creation of the state's legal   
   marijuana market and the rules that govern it.   
      
   The blunder raises questions about how thoroughly the governor's office   
   vets applicants. In July, Walz rescinded an appointment that he'd made to   
   a state broadband task force after the Star Tribune questioned his office   
   about the appointee's past domestic abuse allegations.   
      
   It also deals a blow to the state's fledgling recreational marijuana   
   industry. Without a permanent director, the still-forming Office of   
   Cannabis Management may need longer to write rules and issue licenses for   
   growers, processors and retailers. Already, licensed dispensaries outside   
   of tribal reservations are not expected to open until 2025.   
      
   Charlene Briner, a state government veteran, has been serving as interim   
   director and helping set up the office.   
      
   DuPree was set to start Oct. 2 with a salary of $151,505, according to the   
   governor's office.   
      
   Leili Fatehi, a longtime legalization advocate who worked closely with   
   state legislators as they passed Minnesota's recreational marijuana law,   
   expressed serious concerns about DuPree's history in a statement earlier   
   Friday.   
      
   "Appointing someone without the necessary qualifications, who is an active   
   member of the very industry they are meant to regulate, and who has shown   
   a past disregard for compliance, is a textbook example of regulatory   
   capture," Fatehi said. "Such a decision risks establishing a culture of   
   noncompliance at the very top levels of our state's oversight of this   
   nascent industry."   
      
   Banned cannabinoids   
      
   On its TikTok account, Loonacy touted edible products containing 10   
   milligrams of THC per serving and 150 milligrams per package. State law   
   allows hemp-derived edibles to contain a maximum of 5 milligrams of THC   
   per serving and 50 milligrams per package. The TikTok page was deactivated   
   by Friday.   
      
   Loonacy was also selling noncompliant vape cartridges on its website up   
   until late Thursday — hours after Walz had publicly named DuPree as the   
   first director of Minnesota's Office of Cannabis Management, according to   
   timestamped screenshots shared with the Star Tribune. Some of the vapes   
   available on Loonacy's website contained banned cannabinoids like HHC,   
   THC-P and Delta-10.   
      
   In a video posted to Loonacy's now-inactive TikTok account, DuPree talked   
   about California-made Goliath vape pods with a "proprietary blend" of   
   cannabinoids, many of which are illegal in Minnesota, according to the   
   product's lab report.   
      
   "I love this product, we brought this in because it's something I would   
   use on a regular basis, and I do," she said in the video.   
      
   DuPree said in an interview Wednesday that she had planned to close   
   Loonacy before starting in the state role. Minnesota's marijuana law   
   prohibits the Office of Cannabis Management director from holding a direct   
   or indirect stake in a cannabis business.   
      
   In her statement Friday, DuPree said: "I have never knowingly sold any   
   noncompliant product, and when I became aware of them I removed the   
   products from inventory."   
      
   Before opening Loonacy, DuPree said she had been a consultant for startup   
   businesses for nearly 20 years. DuPree, who has never worked in   
   government, likened setting up Minnesota's new cannabis agency to   
   launching a large startup.   
      
   Walz's office highlighted DuPree's work as founder and vice president of   
   Cook and Quinwood Consulting on Thursday, describing it in the present   
   tense. But that business has been listed as "inactive" by the Minnesota   
   Secretary of State's Office since February.   
      
   DuPree previously ran a home-cleaning business and was recently a sales   
   consultant for a flooring company, according to public filings.   
      
   She has faced financial troubles over the past decade, public records   
   show, including several federal tax liens and lawsuits.   
      
   Tightening restrictions   
      
   Regulations and enforcement were loose when Minnesota first legalized   
   hemp-derived THC products last year. Many products were already being sold   
   in the state in a legal gray area since the 2018 federal farm bill opened   
   the door to cannabis compounds derived from hemp.   
      
   The recreational marijuana law passed this spring added additional   
   penalties for non-compliant hemp-derived products. It is now a gross   
   misdemeanor, with a fine of up to $3,000 and up to a year in jail, for   
   someone who "sells an edible cannabinoid product knowing that the product   
   does not comply with the limits on the amount or types of cannabinoids   
   that a product may contain."   
      
   Hemp and marijuana are both cannabis; the difference is that hemp contains   
   less than 0.3% THC, the main intoxicating compound in cannabis, and is   
   legal under federal law.   
      
   Many of the hemp-derived products Loonacy was selling may not even be able   
   to be sold at licensed adult-use marijuana dispensaries when they open.   
   Novel cannabinoids like the highly potent THC-P remain poorly understood.   
      
   https://www.startribune.com/minnesotas-new-cannabis-regulator-sold-   
   noncompliant-products-at-hemp-shop-marijuana-pot-thc-   
   dupree/600306818/?refresh=true   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)