Nathan Taylor, store manager at High North Pharmacy in Hudson, Wis., Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024 (Alex Corman/Minnesota Star Tribune)
That summer, the owners had to remove many products from shelves to comply with Minnesota's low-dose edible regulations. And when it opened its store in Uptown Minneapolis in 2023, regulators ultimately eliminated THCA flower and vaping for similar reasons.
According to the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Control (OCM), state regulators destroyed more than 190 pounds of cannabis flower, valued at about $578,000, recovered from retail stores.
In the wake of these conflicts, Thompson & Johnson opened a 200-square-foot store in Hudson, Wisconsin. There are no rules there, so they can sell many of the same products they offer in Minnesota, including cannabis flower at a higher price. – Dosage edibles, THC vapes, and pre-rolls. The Wisconsin store has seen revenue increase about 30% since opening in April 2024, outpacing the other two stores, Johnson said.
“This was a way for us to serve this customer base that we have trusted for a long time,” Thompson said. They're buying it and they're familiar with it. ”
If marijuana-derived THC products were a loophole in Minnesota before legalization, THCA is open to interpretation in Wisconsin. Technically, labs must test for that 0.3% threshold only after THCA has been converted to delta-9 by heating. But that's not entirely clear in the Farm Bill, which in Wisconsin, for example, means people can buy THCA products well above the 0.3% post-heat standard.
“I think this is a gray area industry, but I think it’s been around since the Farm Bill was passed,” Thompson said. “But all we try to do is make sure we offer the highest quality product possible within the markets we serve.”
