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Matt DeLong

Audience editor

Matt DeLong is an editor on the Minnesota Star Tribune's audience team. He writes Nuggets, a free, weekly email newsletter about legal cannabis in Minnesota. DeLong also oversees the Minnesota Poll and has written numerous reader-focused guides and FAQ articles on a wide range of topics. He can be reached on the encrypted messaging app Signal at mattdelong.01.

Prior to joining the Star Tribune in late 2014, DeLong was a digital editor on the national desk at the Washington Post, where he was part of the team awarded the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for coverage of the National Security Agency’s secret surveillance programs. A native of upstate New York, DeLong currently lives in Minneapolis.

Latest from Matt DeLong

Minnesota holds first lotteries for cannabis business licenses, nearly two years after legalization

Applicants selected will not immediately receive a full license, but can move forward with the final stages of setting up their businesses.
June 5, 2025

In federal Lake Street operation, ICE agent’s Norse patch sparks questions over ideology

The masked agent’s custom-adorned patch shows a Viking skull over a Nordic wayfinder; expert cautions it could mean ‘a thousand things.’
June 4, 2025

Minnesota cannabis agency agrees to settle canceled social equity license lottery case

Under the agreement, marijuana business license applicants who were granted entry into the abandoned lottery will be prioritized throughout the licensing process.
May 30, 2025

Minnesota could raise tax on cannabis products before marijuana market launches

Legislators are looking to increase the tax from 10% to 15% and repeal language in the law that requires the state to share cannabis tax revenue with cities and counties.
May 22, 2025

White Earth Band of Chippewa gets green light to open marijuana dispensaries off reservation

Gov. Tim Walz signed a tribal compact agreement with White Earth on Tuesday night allowing it to open eight off-reservation pot stores.
May 20, 2025

The Minnesota Legislature passed a big cannabis bill. Here’s what’s in it.

A proposed tax hike on cannabis sales could still be on the table in an expected special session.
May 20, 2025
Young cannabis plants in Minnesota Medical Solutions' Otsego greenhouses in 2015.

Want to share info with the Star Tribune? How to do it securely

We respect the desire of some tipsters to remain anonymous, and have put in place ways to contact reporters and editors to ensure the communication will be private and secure.
April 29, 2025
In this photo taken Monday, March 6, 2017, in San Francisco, released confidential files by The University of California of a sexual misconduct case, like this one against UC Santa Cruz Latin Studies professor Hector Perla is shown. Perla was accused of raping a student during a wine-tasting outing in June 2015. Some of the files are so heavily redacted that on many pages no words are visible. Perla is one of 113 UC employees found to have violated the system's sexual misconduct policies in rece

Want to celebrate 4/20? Here are dozens of weed-themed events across Minnesota.

A guide to cannabis-related celebrations, specials and discounts this weekend.
April 18, 2025
An attendee celebrates at 4:20 p.m. by lighting up marijuana during the Mile High 420 Festival Friday, April 20, 2018, in Denver. The annual celebration was projected to attract an estimated 50,000 people in Civic Center Park.

Minnesota could soon launch its legal marijuana market. Here’s what happens next.

The regulations that will govern the cannabis industry took effect Monday. The state’s first pot business licenses could be issued within weeks.
April 14, 2025
Young cannabis plants grow in the Otsego facility run by Minnesota Medical Solutions.

Judge orders Minnesota cannabis agency to hold canceled license lottery after all

The state’s Office of Cannabis Management had a legal obligation to conduct the social equity preapproval lottery, a Ramsey County judge ruled on Friday.
April 6, 2025

Minnesota could license hundreds of marijuana retailers, cultivators in coming months

The state Office of Cannabis Management has received more than 3,500 cannabis business license applications as it sends regulations to a judge for final approval.
March 27, 2025
FILE - In this Dec. 27, 2013, file photo, different strains of pot are displayed for sale at Medicine Man marijuana dispensary in Denver. Nationwide marijuana legalization seems inevitable to three-fourths of Americans, according to a new poll out Wednesday, April 2, 2014. The Pew Research Center survey on the nation's shifting attitudes about drug policy also showed increased support for moving away from mandatory sentences for non-violent drug offenders.

Minnesota’s plan to let tribes open off-reservation pot stores first draws fairness complaints

Some entrepreneurs and advocates say Minnesota is giving tribal nations an unfair advantage over state-licensed businesses.
March 14, 2025
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