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moratorium to regulate, restrict or prohibit any use within the jurisdiction to protect the public
<br />health, safety, and welfare. Specifically, the City is authorized to enact a moratorium
<br />ordinance to allow it to undertake a study to determine whether to adopt any regulations or
<br />restrictions, including siting and location of uses, related to the sales, testing, manufacturing,
<br />and distribution of cannabis and lower-potency hemp products.
<br />
<br />12. Section 343.13 of the Act allows a city to adopt an interim ordinance relating to regulation of
<br />cannabis businesses until January 1, 2025. This provision only relates to cannabis businesses,
<br />and does not include the ability to study lower-potency hemp products, even though the new
<br />Act regulates such products, creates the OCM to administer regulations, and requires certain
<br />functions for a city including registration and compliance checks and other matters.
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<br />13. Pursuant to its general police powers, including but not limited to, Minn. Stat. §
<br />421.221, subd. 32, the City may enact and enforce regulations or restrictions on both cannabis
<br />and lower-potency hemp products within the City to protect the public safety, health, and
<br />welfare, including restrictions and a moratorium on the use of sales, testing, manufacturing,
<br />and distribution, during the pendency of a study to determine the need for police power
<br />regulations, including but not necessarily limited to licensing and permitting.
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<br />14. The Act specifically allows for the immediate sale of “edible cannabis products” at exclusive
<br />on-sale liquor stores. The definition of “edible cannabis products” in the Act, excludes
<br />“lower-potency hemp edibles.” “Edible cannabis products” are now permitted for sale in the
<br />City only in exclusive liquor stores.
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<br />15. The City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2023-527 on July 10, 2023, placing a twelve (12)
<br />month moratorium on the sale, testing, manufacturing, and distribution of cannabinoid
<br />products within the City that expired on July 10, 2024.
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<br />SECTION 2. FINDINGS.
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<br />1. The City Council finds there is a need to study cannabinoid products, which includes
<br />cannabis products and lower-potency hemp products including uses and businesses related
<br />thereto, in order to assess the necessity for and efficacy of regulation and restrictions relating
<br />to the sales, testing, manufacturing, and distribution of cannabinoid products, including
<br />through licensing or zoning ordinances, in order to protect the public health, safety, and
<br />welfares of its residents.
<br />
<br />2. The study will allow the City Council to determine the appropriate changes, if any, that that it
<br />should make to City ordinances.
<br />
<br />3. The City Council, therefore, finds that there is a need to adopt a City-wide moratorium of the
<br />sale, testing, manufacturing, and distribution of cannabinoid products within the City while
<br />City staff studies the issue.
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<br />SECTION 3. MORATORIUM.
<br />
<br />1. No individual, establishment, organization, or business may sell, test, manufacture,
<br />or distribute cannabinoid products from the effective date of this ordinance until January 1,
<br />2025.
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<br />2. The City shall not issue any license or permit related to cannabinoid products from the
<br />effective date of this ordinance until January 1, 2025. No license or permit application, of any
<br />kind, by any individual, establishment, organization, or businesses involved in the proposed
<br />sale, testing, manufacturing, or distribution of cannabinoid products within the City of Hugo
<br />shall be accepted or considered from the effective date of this ordinance until January 1,
<br />2025.
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