The day I interviewed Gov. Tim Walz last month, I was also scheduled to speak with Eric Taubel, then the interim head of Minnesota’s Office of Cannabis Management.

When I mentioned this to Walz, the governor stopped short of saying that he would name Taubel the office’s permanent head. But he effusively praised the temporary executive director for turning around what, by the governor’s own admission, has been a “rocky” marijuana legalization process.

“I think he’s done a fantastic job,” Walz said.

On Wednesday, Walz announced that Taubel, interim director of the cannabis office since January, has got the permanent job. (Before the interim gig, Taubel served as the office’s general counsel.)

The governor said in a statement that “over the past eight months” Taubel “has ensured that the

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