Dispensary possible in St. Joseph

The possibility of a municipal cannabis dispensary in the St. Joseph area brings new and unexplored opportunities for the CSB+SJU community.

At this time, not a single municipal dispensary exists in entirety of the United States. All dispensaries are privately owned within states that have legalized marijuana’s recreational use.

Currently, St. Cloud’s private dispensaries, “Rise Dispensary” and “Ezgrows,” are the closest to CSB+SJU campuses. The concept of a “municipal” dispensary refers to a cannabis dispensary that is owned and operated by a local government, like St. Joseph. The ownership, framework and tax revenue of municipal entities are all handled by the governmental body.

This new concept has led local government officials like city administrator David Murphy to brainstorm and start from square one.

Murphy has headed this project on behalf of the St. Joseph community, actively working on the definition, rules and regulations of a dispensary and what its creation would mean.

“In all of the things that I have been involved in during my almost 25-year career in public administration, I have never seen anything like this or where it’s truly the unknown,” Murphy said.

Murphy is working alongside officials from New Elko Market and Minnetonka suburbs to explore what a municipal dispensary would mean not only for each city but for the state of Minnesota.

Upon legalization of recreational-use marijuana in the state of Minnesota, CSB+SJU released an email to the student body in August before classes began. The email outlined the rules and regulations of marijuana on campus in response to its legalization.

“As a result, regardless of state and local changes, institutions of higher education are expected to continue to abide by the Drug-Free Schools and Campuses Act, by maintaining policies that prohibit marijuana possession, use or distribution by students, staff and faculty while on the campus and property of the College of St. Benedict (‘CSB’) and St. John’s University (‘SJU’).”

CSB Dean of Students Jody Terhaar has prioritized being transparent with the study body, reflecting the rules and regulations adjacent to the Drug-Free Schools and Campuses Act (DFSCA).

Because CSB+SJU receives federal funding, the institutions must abide by the DFSCA, prohibiting any form of marijuana consumption on either campus.

“We would want to go through and make sure that whatever we’re communicating was as crystal clear as possible, ‘right under the DFSCA,’” Terhaar said.

In the spring of 2022, an annual alcohol and drug survey was sent out to the student body, and the results reflect the year’s trends. A survey was also sent out in 2024, but the data has not yet been computed for public access on the institution’s website.

In the 2022 survey, 27.4% of the student body indicated that marijuana is never a good thing to do, whereas 25.8% of the student body indicated that using marijuana is a normal part of the CSB+SJU college experience.

The survey also showed that 34.4% of Bennies and 50.3% of Johnnies indicated that the social atmosphere of the colleges promotes marijuana use.

Regardless of state and local changes in the past year, marijuana use remains prohibited on the campuses of St. Ben’s and St. John’s.

“If a person is legally purchasing items from a dispensary, whether it’s the city or not, and they’re doing so legally, there’s not a violation,” Terhaar said. “But if they come to campus with those products, use them on our campus or have them present on our campus, that is a violation of our campus policy because our campus has to follow the DFSCA.”