Following cannabis director controversy, Walz vows to pick a new leader with "regulator" experience
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday said he will focus on hiring a person with regulatory experience to lead the new state cannabis office after his previous pick stepped down amid controversy.
Walz announced last Thursday that Erin DuPree, owner of Loonacy Cannabis Co. selling hemp-derived products, would lead the fledgling Office of Cannabis Management tasked with oversight of the new marijuana industry.
But she stepped aside almost as soon as she was appointed, withdrawing her nomination just one day later after the Star Tribune reported her business was selling hemp products with THC in them not allowed by law.
"At the end of the day, it ends up on me and we got this one wrong," Walz told reporters at an event at the University of Minnesota Tuesday.
Walz said he is shifting his focus on what qualifications the next candidate should have. He admitted that he initially zeroed in on people within the industry, but now wants someone who has regulatory experience to lead the office enforcing the new rules about marijuana.
His team is also evaluating what they missed in their hiring and vetting process, he added.
"One of the big things I'm asking for is that we're going to hire a regulator in this and I think that was probably the way the focus should have been in the beginning," he said. "I've learned that lesson now and that's what we'll do."
DuPree in a statement said last week that she believed her experience made her the "right person for the job," and that she didn't knowingly sell any noncompliant products and removed them from inventory once she was aware. But she stepped aside.
"Conducting lawful business has been an objective of my business career," she said. However, it has become clear that I have become a distraction that would stand in the way of the important work that needs to be done."
In an interview with WCCO Radio Monday, she said because she was advised not to comment on the initial media reports, which resulted in only "one side" of the story. She said she was "hung out to dry."
"Had I been allowed to speak to the people that were writing the articles, they would have looked a lot differently because they would have been able to hear what was actually going on in those situations," she told the radio station.
Another statement from will come later this week, she said.
Walz vowed that the director search restart won't set the timeline back for the launch of the new legal market. Retail weed sales are expected by early 2025; two tribal nations are already selling marijuana because they are self-governed.
DuPree was set to begin her new role Oct. 2, but interim director Charlene Briner will stay put for now. Walz did not say when he expects another announcement, but said that the process of getting the new office operational is going smoothly.
"My take on this is we need to move with a sense of urgency, but I am more concerned with, as we always have been, getting the right people on the right seat on the bus, rather than how quickly we get them on the bus," Walz explained.