From today's Star Tribune :
Tribal nations could become major players in Minnesota’s new cannabis market: MinnPost’s Peter Callaghan provides an update on negotiations between Gov. Tim Walz’s administration and 10 of Minnesota’s tribal nations on a compact that could allow the tribes to sell cannabis both on and off tribal lands. Callaghan writes:
Walz administration officials say talks are progressing and include discussions of off-reservation cannabis businesses owned by tribes, as well as business interactions between tribal entities and state-licensed businesses. The negotiations involve 10 tribes, though not all are expected to get into cannabis cultivation and sales, said the officials who agreed to speak to MinnPost on condition that their names not be used because negotiations are ongoing. The one tribe not taking part is the Upper Sioux Community.
Callaghan spoke with two state lawmakers who shepherded last year’s bill that legalized recreational cannabis in Minnesota — Port and Rep. Zach Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids — who suggested that a compact could allow tribes to wholesale cannabis products to non-tribal dispensaries and open dispensaries outside of tribal lands. The Legislature does not have a role in negotiating or approving tribal compacts.
Full story: Talks could make tribes big players in Minnesota's cannabis market (minnpost.com)
Fond du Lac Band to open cannabis cultivation facility in Carlton: This news comes to us buried deep in a news release about job training grants from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development [DEED]. The agency announced last week that a partnership between the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College and Fond du Lac Band Cannabis. Corp has been awarded a $30,654 grant to help train workers who want to enter the legal cannabis industry. The release also notes that “Fond du Lac Band Cannabis Corp. in Cloquet is a startup company opening a cannabis cultivation and manufacturing facility, located on the tribe's reservation, that will supply medical and adult-use cannabis products ranging from flower to edibles and concentrates.” The Pine Knot News reports that the facility will be located “near the intersection of Hwy. 210 and Interstate 35 in Carlton,” which would place it near the Black Bear Casino Resort about 20 miles southwest of Duluth. A tribal spokesman acknowledged the existence of the project but declined to answer questions about the plans.
Prairie Island Indian Community building large grow operation near Hastings: Coming on the heels of its announcement in March that it will open a cannabis dispensary this summer, the Prairie Island Indian Community is preparing to build a large cannabis cultivation facility in Ravenna Township, between Hastings and Red Wing, according to Prairie Island spokesman Eric Pehle. The tribe’s plans for the facility were first reported by the Hastings Journal in April. The compound will sit on a 13-acre parcel of land owned by the tribe and will include up to five 12,500 to 15,000-square-foot buildings and 2.5 acres for outdoor cultivation, according to the Journal. Pehle said preliminary work is underway at the site and the tribe will provide more information at a future groundbreaking event. Marijuana grown at the facility will be sold at the tribal dispensary. Prairie Island representatives were expected to present plans for the property at a Ravenna Township board meeting Thursday, but they later declined, the Journal reported Wednesday.
White Earth man charged with felony cannabis possession for selling without a license: “A White Earth tribal member who sold marijuana without a license has been charged with a felony for illegal cannabis possession by the Mahnomen County attorney, launching the first test of the state’s authority to prosecute marijuana crimes on tribal land post-legalization. Todd Thompson began selling cannabis with four other tribal members from his store, Asema Tobacco and Pipe on Aug. 1 — the day recreational cannabis became legal in Minnesota,” Max Nesterak reports for the Minnesota Reformer. Full story: White Earth man charged with felony cannabis possession for selling without a license • Minnesota Reformer
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