Red Lake opens doors to dispensary offering first retail sales of weed in Minnesota
RED LAKE, Minn. -- Hundreds of customers flocked to the Red Lake Reservation on Tuesday to buy marijuana at the first retail dispensary in Minnesota, on the same day recreational use became legal.
Minnesotans can now have up to 2 pounds of cannabis flower in their homes and transport up to 2 ounces in public, but retail sales in most places will take longer because a new state office charged with oversight and issuing business licenses is in its infancy.
The Red Lake Nation, though, is sovereign so it can set its own rules and regulations, and leaders are eager to cash in on cannabis before other communities can.
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"It's one of the few advantages that tribal nations have had, an edge on everybody else," said Jerry Loud, who oversees operations at NativeCare, the dispensary. "So we're going to capitalize on this."
The lines outside NativeCare started to form hours before 11 a.m. when it was officially open for business to anyone 21 and older. Some traveled hours to be among the first customers on day one weed is legal in Minnesota, the 23rd state to take that step.
Customers can purchase up to 2 ounces per transaction of cannabis flower and gummies, and the business operates with cash only. By mid-afternoon, workers had to cut off the line in order to get the crowds waiting inside before close.
"How many states are already legalized? It's just been sort of an absurd law," said Terry Leinbach, who came from Blackduck. "I'm just delighted."
The dispensary was once the site of a grocery store that transformed into a dispensary serving medical patients beginning in February, after Red Lake members earlier had voted to authorize those sales.
Loud boasted that it took the reservation just two years for "seed to sale." All cannabis is cultivated, manufactured and packaged within its borders.
He is eager about the opportunity for business, but also to bring more people to the reservation and foster relationships with visitors. Tribal Secretary Samuel Strong told WCCO Monday leaders plan on opening other NativeCare locations, including in Minneapolis.
"This is more than just selling cannabis. It's actually a part of racial relationships, having people come to Red Lake that have heard all of these myths that are untrue," Loud said. "We're just like any other community. Come up and see us and see for yourself."
Lines grew longer as the morning went on and there was a party-like atmosphere by midday. The reservation offered free hot dogs and cookies, and a food truck from Bemidji served pulled pork sandwiches as the local radio station broadcasted its program live from the parking lot.
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A few were smoking a joint and fireworks went off above the store.
"It's nice to see a well diverse crowd here, all different ages," said Mike Howland, who drove more than two hours from Brainerd.
He intends to make the trip back to Red Lake again because he trusts a regulated market with tested products.
"It is a long drive, but doing it the old-fashioned way off the street and stuff, especially with the opiate epidemic with fentanyl being mixed into stuff -- if I wanted fentanyl, I could go and look for fentanyl," he said. "If I want marijuana, this is where you go and there's regulations that don't allow that stuff to be in the product."
Meanwhile, John Webster traveled three hours from his home state of North Dakota and was the first person in line Tuesday. He said he was enrolled in a medical program in Maine when he lived there, but now North Dakota's rules for participation are too stringent.
He also doesn't anticipate state lawmakers there to legalize marijuana for recreational use soon.
"It's a tide that will not be stopped. It's just inevitable," Webster said of more states passing similar laws. "It's just a question of time, but of course in time there will be other recreational stores in Minnesota that are closer to me."
Webster also joked that he made sure to send a picture of him first in line to all of his friends.