By Zac Chapman / Assistant News Director

The Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) announced that inspections will begin to prevent the illegal sales of raw cannabis flower in the state after they received complaints of retailers selling them under the label of hemp flower.

The OCM will test products using a field mobile testing unit and a contracted testing lab to determine the total amount of THC in each.

Raw hemp flower must contain 0.3% or less of Delta-9 on a dry weight basis. Products containing more than 0.3% Delta-9 dry weight are considered marijuana and are illegal to sell.

Retailers found violating the law could face up to fines of $1 million and could impact a person’s ability to receive a cannabis business license.