Former Gov. Jesse Ventura visited Unwind in Moorhead Saturday to introduce his line of THC-CBD edibles, marketed as Jesse Ventura Farms’ 38th Governor’s Select Collection.
Nancy Edmonds Hanson
Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura visited Moorhead Saturday, June 2, to introduce his line of THC and CBD edibles at Unwind, where about 100 people waited to greet him.
Theresa Sorenson, who established the city’s first shop selling the then-newly legalized hemp-derived products in 2022, welcomed the state’s 38th governor, long an advocate of legalizing cannabis sales and consumption.
The former governor’s visit was coordinated, she said, by Retro Bakery, a major producer of THC and CBD-infused gummies and chocolates based in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota – the city where Ventura was mayor in the early 1990s. His company, Jesse Ventura Farms, is collaborating with the firm to manufacture edible products under the name 38th Governor’s Select Collection.
“We’re a top seller of Retro’s products, so they asked if we’d like to host his visit,” Sorenson says. “We found out about it just a week in advance.”
Ventura told his audience that cannabis literally saved his family: “My wife Terry suffered terrible seizures,” he said. “She was put on four different seizure medications, but nothing worked.” The couple, who have been married almost 50 years, traveled to Colorado, where marijuana was legalized a dozen years ago. “After three drops of a THC tincture under her tongue, she has never had another seizure,” he recounted. “It was a lifesaver for her, for me and for our family.”
He advocated legalizing cannabis in Minnesota after his upset victory in 1998, but his request was rejected by the Legislature. When lawmakers did finally legalize it one year ago, Gov. Tim Walz invited him to the signing of the bill.
“Jesse’s edibles are a little different,” Sorenson says. Each targets a certain set of effects, ranging from suppressing appetite and improving focus to easing anxiety, reducing pain and inducing relaxation and sleep.
Unwind is located at 3505 Eighth St S. The shop is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, to 10 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, and to 6 p.m. Sunday.
