Staff photo by Fritz Busch Brown County Commissioners unanimously approved Lower-Potency Hemp Edible (LPHE) retail registration Tuesday for Janun-4 LLC, doing business as Freedom Value, 400 Main St. W., Sleepy Eye, pictured above.

SLEEPY EYE — Brown County Commissioners unanimously approved Lower-Potency Hemp Edible (LPHE) retail registration Tuesday for Freedom Value on Main Street.

The Brown County License Bureau received a March 18 notice the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) issued a LPHE retailer license to JANU-4 LLC, dba Freedom Value, effective for one year from issuance.

In addition to receiving the the license, retailers must apply for and obtain local retail registration from the local government. Local governments can not limited the number of local low-potency hemp THC registrations because they don’t count towards Brown County’s registration limit of three cannabis retail businesses, outside New Ulm.

Brown County, which has edible hemp jurisdiction everywhere in the county outside New Ulm, has not approved any full-potency hemp THC product licenses, but the City of New Ulm has done so.

Licensed LPHE businesses are required to comply with state and local building, fire, and zoning codes, requirements, and regulations.

Prior to issuing the license, the City of Sleepy Eye granting zoning approval. JANU-4-LLC is current on all property taxes and assessments, according to the registration request.

Approval of the consent agenda item followed a motion by Commissioner Tony Berg, seconded by Jeff Veerkamp.

The OCM has processed more than 2,200 license applications from businesses that applied last October to manufacture and sell the LPHE products that include hemp-derived THC beverages and gummies.

“We now have more than 1,500 licensed, hemp-derived THC businesses in Minnesota,” said OCM Executive Director Eric Taubel. “Having hemp and cannabis businesses licensed under the same statute is crucial to our work of fostering an equitable cannabis industry that prioritizes public health and safety, consumer confidence, and market integrity.”

For more information, visit mn.gov/ocm/https://mn.gov/ocm/.