1/16/22

Native Nations Cannabis wins off-reservation variances in Mitchell

According to white catholic state senator, Lee Schoenbeck, Republicans in South Dakota's depraved legislature will punt on legal cannabis for all adults on non-tribal properties during its session. 

Meanwhile, the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe is operating its therapeutic cannabis dispensary at full capacity but is limiting patients to an 1/8 of an ounce of flower to avoid running out of product. The Nation is constructing two additional cultivation facilities that will nearly triple its current production and tribal attorney, Seth Pearman says the pursuit of a compact with the state is ongoing. In May of 2021 the Isanti Dakota Oyate purchased a parcel in the heart of the commercial district in Sioux Falls.
Among the three dispensaries seeking variances, Native Nations Cannabis – a medical marijuana company based out of Flandreau – was the lone entity to receive its variances during Monday’s Planning Commission meeting. Native Nations Cannabis was required to receive two variances to operate at the 1620 S. Burr St. location due to the close proximity of Mitchell Technical College. [Mitchell Daily Republic]
Tribal sovereignty binds the hands of states competing for federal resources. Under the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act the Tohono O’odham Nation won its lawsuit with the State of Arizona and in 2017 it opened a casino in Glendale outside its established boundaries.

In 2018 the Oglala Lakota Oyate bought fifty acres just off I-90 outside their Nation then legalized cannabis for all adults in 2020. According to the Lakota Times Oglala Lakota College has the equipment to test cannabis but so far the cost of constructing a lab in Pine Ridge has proved to be prohibitive.

I was wrong about John Thune leaving for the private sector so I’m probably wrong that South Dakota Republicans can’t write cannabis laws that Kristi Noem will sign.

2 comments:

larry kurtz said...

"Three medical marijuana dispensaries in need of variances to open their businesses are in limbo after the Mitchell City Council tabled all variance requests on Tuesday to revisit the city’s zoning codes. For example, Flandreau-based Native Nations Cannabis’ proposed dispensary location at 1620 S. Burr St. near Interstate 90 is technically more than 1,000 feet from the nearest educational institution and another dispensary. However, if the right-of-ways are excluded in measuring the distance of buffer zones like the city’s zoning codes outline, it would put the location within 1,000 feet from both Mitchell Technical College and another nearby dispensary, which requires a variance to receive full approval." Mitchell Daily Republic

larry kurtz said...

The Flandreau Santee Sioux Nation has purchased the long-vacant Shopko building in Mitchell for a grow/op: Mitchell Daily Republic.