ST. PAUL (MPR) – Following a White Earth Tribal Council vote on Friday afternoon, the White Earth Nation will begin selling legalized adult-use recreational cannabis sometime in the first half of August.
According to the resolution, both tribal members and non-tribal adults 21 years and older would be able to purchase from a White Earth dispensary.
However, in an interview with MPR, White Earth Chairman Michael Fairbanks said White Earth opening their dispensary for sale of medical cannabis will take priority next week. Adding, White Earth Nation citizens voted to legalize the use of medical marijuana on reservation in 2020.
The new medical dispensary will be open to both tribal and non-tribal members.
The decision by the White Earth Tribal Council on recreational cannabis follows a recent vote by Red Lake Nation to legalize adult-use cannabis at a dispensary on the reservation.
White Earth Nation and Red Lake Nation will be the first to open dispensaries in Minnesota able to sell recreational use marijuana with non-tribal dispensaries having to wait at least another year before they can be licensed by the state office of cannabis management.
Fairbanks also said White Earth may soon enter into agreements with other tribal nations across the state to supply them with cannabis products for retail.
Fairbanks also confirmed to MPR that White Earth, along with other tribal nations in Minnesota, are currently in discussions with the state that would allow tribes to operate dispensaries off-reservation.
State law allows for compacts between the governor and 11 tribal governments around medical cannabis and adult-use recreational cannabis.
Tribes may operate their own cannabis operations regardless of whether the state and tribes enter into an agreement.
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