Red Lake Nation Tribal Council to step away from day-to-day operations of its recreational cannabis dispensary
RED LAKE, Minn. — The Red Lake Nation Tribal Council says it will step away from day-to-day operations of NativeCare — Minnesota's first recreational marijuana dispensary — following theft allegations later determined to be false.
In a release posted to Facebook on Wednesday, Red Lake Nation said the Tribal Council met on Tuesday to discuss operations of the dispensary, which is owned by the tribe and located on the reservation.
According to the council, an employee at the dispensary's grow facility accused a Tribal Council member of removing a significant amount of "trim" that was stored in garbage bags at the facility. Trim, a leaf byproduct, is removed from cannabis flowers after harvesting.
Cannabis operations in Red Lake Nation are overseen by the tribe's Tribal Regulatory Cannabis Agency, which presented its findings on the matter to the council.
The council says the report detailed that the trim was picked up by a business partner of NativeCare "for the purpose of processing the otherwise wasted material into value-added products, such as vape cartridges."
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The employee who made the accusation reviewed the report and admitted to never seeing the Tribal Council member in question removing the trim, and said their accusation was incorrect, according to the council. All the trim product was accounted for and documented.
During the meeting, the Tribal Council unanimously voted to step away from the day-to-day operations of the dispensary, which they also directed to be operated as a "stand-alone business."
Additionally, the Tribal Council directed that details of the stand-alone business be developed, like personnel policies, benefits and job descriptions.
NativeCare opened on Aug. 1, which was the same day recreational cannabis use became legal.
WCCO has reached out to the tribe for further details.
NOTE: Video is from Aug. 1, 2023