Jesse Ventura Edibles Hit the Market

Minnesota is wrestling with how to handle retail sales
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 28, 2024 4:55 PM CDT
Jesse Ventura Joins Cannabis Business
Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura talks to reporters outside the federal building in St. Paul in 2015.   (Elizabeth Flores /Star Tribune via AP, File)

Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura has announced he is entering the cannabis market as a seller, as the state figures out retail sales of the drug on the heels of legalizing marijuana for adults last year. Ventura is launching his own brand of cannabis edibles in partnership with Retro Bakery, which is based in suburban Minneapolis, and producing hemp-derived THC edibles under the Jesse Ventura Farms brand, Minnesota Public Radio reported. "Ventura Farms is my foray into the world of cannabis," Ventura said in a Wednesday video with rock music playing in the background, the AP reports.

He added: "I'm a huge supporter of the cannabis industry. Cannabis saved my family's life. And now it's time for me to return to the cannabis world. And you can join me—Jesse Ventura and Ventura Farms—any time you want." Ventura has said the drug helped his wife get her seizures under control, per MPR. Retro Bakery said the Ventura-branded edibles will be available for pre-order on Monday. A former professional wrestler and actor, Ventura won the race for Minnesota governor as an independent candidate in 1998. He served as governor from 1999 to 2003. Ventura was one of the first governors in the US to openly support marijuana legalization.

Last year, Minnesota became the 23rd state to legalize recreational marijuana for adults. This month, the state's top cannabis regulator said Minnesota probably won't meet its goal of launching full-scale retail marijuana sales in the first quarter of 2025 because of the time it will take to draft regulations and issue licenses. Using, possessing, and growing marijuana for personal use, within limits, became legal last August. But sales are still a legal gray area.

(More cannabis stories.)

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