Erin Dupree, the recently appointed director of Minnesota’s new marijuana regulatory agency, resigned amid reports that she was selling illegal marijuana products in the state.
Dupree ran a business that sold products that exceeded state limits on THC potency, owed money to former colleagues and accumulated tens of thousands of dollars in tax liens, Minnesota Public Radio reported.
Loonacy Cannabis Co., the company Dupree founded last year in Apple Valley, Minn., posted information about its edible products on its now-defunct TikTok account, saying it contains 10 milligrams of THC per serving and 150 milligrams per packet. THC, although state law only allows marijuana-derived edibles to contain up to 5 milligrams of THC per serving and 50 milligrams per package, the Star Tribune reported.
“I never knowingly sold any non-compliant products and when I became aware of these issues, I removed the products from my inventory,” Dupree said in a statement Friday.
“However, it is clear that I have become a distraction that gets in the way of the important work that needs to be done,” she added.
She will begin serving as the state’s first Office of Marijuana Management director on Oct. 2.
“One of the responsibilities is the appointment of thousands of people, and I take that responsibility and the responsibility is mine,” Gov. Tim Walz said Saturday, according to the Star Tribune. “In this case The process didn’t work and we made a mistake.”
Charlene Briner, interim director of the Office of Marijuana, will continue in her interim role, Walz said in a statement Friday, Minnesota Public Radio reported.
Minnesota’s recreational marijuana legalization took effect in August, allowing people 21 and older to legally possess and grow their own marijuana for recreational purposes, but as the state builds out its legal marijuana industry in the coming months and years, restricted.
The Midwestern state is the 23rd in the United States to legalize recreational marijuana. Surrounding states — including Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota — have yet to legalize it.
