Holy Smoke Tobacco employee Mitch Geiger checks a customer’s I.D., as mandated by law, before selling him rolling paper. (Colton Kemp photos/southernminn.com)
Gummy candy containing Delta-9 THC sits on a shelf at Owatonna Smoke N Vape, behind locked glass and in a childproof container, as required by the new Minnesota law.
Gummy candy with Delta-9 THC is now on the shelves at Holy Smoke Tobacco in Faribault.
The flower with Delta-8 THC has been for sale in Minnesota for a while. This form of THC has a weaker psychoactive effect than the now-legal compound, Delta-9.
Holy Smoke Tobacco employee Mitch Geiger checks a customer’s I.D., as mandated by law, before selling him rolling paper. (Colton Kemp photos/southernminn.com)
Local smoke shops are scrambling to keep up with the high demand of now-legal edible and drinkable Delta-9 THC, which is the main psychoactive compound in marijuana.
“It’s been nonstop,” said Jesse Mineti, an employee at Holy Smoke Tobacco in Faribault. “They’re flying off the shelves.”
The influx of customers is due to a new Minnesota’s state law allowing the sale of products with no more than 5 milligrams of THC per serving to people at least 21 years old.
Employees of three local smoke shops say they are receiving a barrage of phone calls and visits from people interested in getting their hands on some of the new product. The products are in such high demand that vendors are working overtime to keep up.
“I’m having to schedule double shifts to keep up,” said Jyl Todd, manager of Holy Smoke Tobacco.
Shelby Simonette, public relations manager of the Smolder Cigar Emporium in St. Peter, said the business occasionally receives inquiries from customers interested in THC products, but the business has no plans to deviate from its selection of cigars.
"We have received phone calls. People call us to ask if we carry other tobacco products as well when we are strictly cigars," said Simonette. "We do get requests for THC types of things, but I wouldn't say that it's very often — maybe once or twice a month, if that."
Some consumers and employees are surprised state lawmakers passed the legislation legalized THC-infused edibles and beverages. It even shocked some of the senators who gave approval after it was added to a package of hemp industry reforms and rolled into a large health policy and finance bill. The Senate passed the bill unanimously.
Republican Sen. Jim Abeler, who authored the bill, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune he hadn’t fully understood the impact that the bill would have. He now suggests rolling it back.
Gummy candy containing Delta-9 THC sits on a shelf at Owatonna Smoke N Vape, behind locked glass and in a childproof container, as required by the new Minnesota law.
An employee at Owatonna Smoke N Vape, Dakota Haukaas, shared his thoughts on the legislative action: “I think it’s great that they did it by accident,” he said. “I just hope that they don’t try to, like, pull it back.”
Lucky for Haukaas, House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler has said that is unlikely in the DFL-controlled House. The House passed a bill to more broadly legalize marijuana in 2021 but it died in the Senate.
Gummy candy with Delta-9 THC is now on the shelves at Holy Smoke Tobacco in Faribault.
An employee of Faribo Smoke Shop, Charese Davis, expressed her thoughts on marijuana consumption and prosecution:
“I feel like (marijuana) is not as bad as the other drugs that are actually killing people,” said Davis. “I think people shouldn’t get as harsh as a punishment as they’re getting. It’s not fair, because people who sell more harsh drugs are getting less time. I feel like it’s not right.”
According to a report from American Civil Liberties Union that gathered data from various government databases, Black people in Rice County are arrested for possession of marijuana nearly five times more than white people. In Steele County, Black people are arrested almost 15 times the rate of white people.
However, according to a report the United States Department of Health and Human services, there is no significant variation in the rate of drug use between Black, Hispanic or white people.
The flower with Delta-8 THC has been for sale in Minnesota for a while. This form of THC has a weaker psychoactive effect than the now-legal compound, Delta-9.
Davis said she believes legalized marijuana with safety regulations would be the safest option.
“People are gonna find their own way of getting it anyway,” she said. “This just made it safer for them and nobody gets in trouble.”
Do you own, work at or know of a business in the area that sells newly legalized edible and drinkable Delta-9 THC products? Let us know at editor@apgsomn.com.
Data included is taken from the Minnesota Department of Health Daily reports. Because all data is preliminary, the change in number of cumulative positive cases and deaths from one day to the next may not equal the newly reported cases or deaths.
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