Minnesota Legislative Updates: Cannabis and Hemp

The key “new” element driving 2026 House work on hemp and cannabis is that the 2025 omnibus cannabis law built in a January 15, 2026 report trigger and some 1/1/26 effective dates that now kicked in.​ We will update this article and repost as any new updates are entered. One big quesiton remains.... will the State of Minnesota once again increase the cannabis sales tax?

OCM report due Jan 15, 2026

• HF 1615 / SF 2370 (Ch. 31) requires the Office of Cannabis Management to deliver a proposal to the Legislature by January 15, 2026 on how to streamline the medical and adult‑use supply chains while preserving medical access (especially for rare and childhood diseases).​

• That report is now due “this week,” so expect early‑session House hearings that use it as the organizing document for 2026 cannabis policy discussions (medical vs adult‑use integration, license types, product flows).​

1/1/26 testing + LPHE enforcement

• Starting January 1, 2026, all testing for hemp‑derived cannabinoid products and LPHE must be done by OCM‑licensed testing labs under the 9810.3100 rules and OCM technical standards.​

• OCM has also signaled stepped‑up enforcement after the October 2025 application window: unlicensed hemp‑derived THC sellers that have not entered the LPHE licensing pipeline are subject to enforcement, which is likely to generate oversight pressure and hearings at the House commerce/OCM‑related committees in 2026.​

2026 Industrial Hemp program live

• The 2026 Industrial Hemp Program application cycle is open, with a hard April 30, 2026 deadline, updated fees, and mandatory pre‑harvest THC testing at $100 per regulatory sample.​

• Crucially, extraction of cannabinoids from hemp is now regulated by OCM starting in 2026, so growers/processors that want to stay in the hemp‑derived THC space must interact with both MDA and OCM; that dual‑jurisdiction issue is a natural 2026 House topic.​

Federal hemp‑derived THC ban clock running

• Congress has changed the federal definition of hemp in a way that will effectively ban most hemp‑derived THC products by November 2026 if not amended, creating a one‑year policy window that Minnesota policymakers are already being warned about by the U of M Cannabis Research Center.​

• Minnesota media and regional outlets are reporting that U.S. Senators and Representatives are working on new THC/hemp laws in response to the shutdown‑deal ban, and this is explicitly framed as a major issue for Minnesota’s hemp industry between now and late 2026.​

What is not updated yet

• As of mid‑January 2026, House Session Daily and the general schedules show no 2026‑specific cannabis/hemp policy bills beyond the existing 2025–26 HF files; committees have not yet posted detailed 2026 cannabis hearing agendas for after the February 17 session start.​

• The underlying 2025 tax change (gross receipts tax increased to 15%) and the 2025 policy omnibus are still the operative framework; no new rate changes or structural overhauls have been enacted since that package.​

• Specific 2025–26 HF numbers you care about (e.g., LPHE clarifications, canopy expansion, event sales, municipal bans) have been entered yet.