Looking toward the future of cannabis Brainerd lakes area

BY TIM SPEIER Brainerd Dispatch

BRAINERD — With the passage of recent legislation, cannabis stores and dispensaries in the Brainerd lakes area are gearing up toward the future. In 2014 lawmakers approved a bill which legalized limited use of medical marijuana with products becoming available in 2015. In 2022, Minnesota legalized the sale and consumption of edibles containing small amounts of hempderived THC. Gov. Tim Walz signed the cannabis legalization bill, allowing the recreational use of cannabis for adults starting Aug. 1, 2023. Without a fully operational licensing body to issue licenses to recreational dispensaries, people can expect to wait until at least early 2025 before seeing recreational dispensaries opening their doors.

With the Office of Cannabis Management being a brand new state agency created with the passage of Minnesota’s new legal cannabis bill, Charlene Briner, interim director of the Office of Cannabis Management, said they have been building the agency from the ground up.

“We’re building the regulatory framework, we’re writing the rules that businesses will have to adhere to,” Briner said. “We’re hiring the staff to carry out everything from licensing to inspections to enforcement and education activities.”

Building the agency from the ground up, Briner said they have received advice and a lot of caution from

BY THERESA BOURKE Brainerd Dispatch

EAST GULL LAKE — It’s not just a home. It’s a lifestyle.

It’s resort life and a house of your own all rolled into one.

“Last night my wife took our golf cart out, and she had a group of friends, and they went up to Ernie’s, then they stopped at the Gravel Pit for a beverage, and they went and had dinner at the Legacy,” said Eric Peterson, general manager of Cragun’s Resort and resident of Cragun’s Legacy Village. “So to me, what we’re selling is we’re selling that lifestyle.”

Begun in 2019, the Legacy Village is the first of three new housing developments situated around the Legacy Golf Course at

Cragun’s, offering a home in the Brainerd lakes area, with all that has to offer, along with the perks afforded to resort guests.

Legacy Pointe and Legacy Ridge lie on the edges of the Lehman 18 Golf Course, an 18-hole championship golf course named for American golfer Tom Lehman. Legacy Village A short street off Gull River Road winds into three cul-de-sacs on the northwestern side of the Legacy Golf Course, adjacent to the clubhouse. The Legacy Village includes 38 homes on 26 acres, boasting maintenance-free living. The idea sprung out of plans in 2017 for a golf course expansion, which included a housing development. While the