In Conversation with Dr. Clemon Dabney - Mpls.St.Paul Magazine

In Conversation with Dr. Clemon Dabney – Mpls.St.Paul Magazine

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From Genome Mapping to Retail Shelves: Inside Dr. Clemon Dabney’s Cannabis Enterprise

In a detailed profile published by Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Dr. Clemon Dabney pulls back the curtain on Minnesota’s emerging legal marijuana market, detailing his transition from academic researcher to microbusiness owner with the launch of Dabney’s Cannabis Co. in Minneapolis’s Nokomis East neighborhood.

As the state’s commercial cannabis landscape expands toward projections of a $1.5 billion market, Dabney brings a distinct scientific pedigree to the enterprise. Holding a PhD in plant and microbial biology from the University of Minnesota—where he made history as the institution’s first doctoral student to focus academically on cannabis—his path combines rigorous scientific mapping with hands-on cultivation experience across the state.

The Science Behind the Storefront

Operating out of a 5,000-square-foot grow facility housed in a pole building on a chestnut tree farm in Spring Grove, Dabney oversees a 900-plant garden designed to supply his retail location. The physical infrastructure requires intensive management, including regular multi-day gardening stretches where he stays in a neighboring property to monitor automated solenoid pumps and nutrient delivery systems.

That technical precision traces back to his doctoral work under Dr. George Weiblen at the University of Minnesota. During his graduate studies, Dabney did pioneering work mapping the cannabis genome with Dr. George Weiblen at the U.

“We have to stop at Menards,” Dabney noted during transit to his Spring Grove facility, pointing out the practical, day-to-day realities of maintaining high-tech horticultural equipment alongside his academic background.

From Academic Research to Private Industry

Before launching his own storefront near Minnehaha Falls, Dabney built operational experience across multiple sectors of Minnesota’s early legal industry. He served as the director of medical cannabis for the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, later holding chief science officer roles at Superior Molecular in White Bear Lake and Uniflora Holistics in Brooklyn Center. In addition to raw flower production, he has developed a line of infused products under the Doctor Dabs brand, ranging from candies and maple syrup to barbecue seasonings.

The Nokomis East dispensary reflects this scientific background, featuring a microscope on-site that invites customers to examine trichomes—the resin glands responsible for producing cannabinoids and terpenes—on the newly harvested buds.

With an initial harvest of 300 plants successfully tested and stocked, Dabney’s operation highlights the growing pains and entrepreneurial pivots defining Minnesota’s commercial cannabis rollout as independent operators navigate licensing, regulation, and large-scale agricultural production.

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