White Earth Band of Chippewa gets green light to open marijuana dispensaries off reservation

The White Earth Band of Chippewa is poised to become the first tribal nation in Minnesota to open recreational marijuana dispensaries outside of its reservation under a compact agreement signed by Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday afternoon.

The agreement allows White Earth to open up to eight retail cannabis dispensaries across the state. Waabigwan Mashkiki, the White Earth Band of Chippewa’s cannabis business, has been preparing to open dispensaries in Moorhead and St. Cloud in anticipation of the compact agreement.

Eric Taubel, interim director of Minnesota’s Office of Cannabis Management, called the agreement with White Earth a “nation-leading approach to cannabis compacting” in an interview Tuesday with the Minnesota Star Tribune.

“We’ll be the first state where not only are tribes operating cannabis businesses off tribal land, but they’re also doing so under tribal regulatory authority,” Taubel said. “The state retains a secondary interest in the regulatory oversight.”

Waabigwan Mashkiki CEO Zach Wilson said the tribe’s first off-reservation store could open as soon as this weekend in Moorhead.

There will be some limits on the eight retail stores that White Earth can open outside of tribal land. White Earth will be allowed a maximum of one dispensary per city and three per county, Taubel said.

“They would have to be pretty geographically diverse in where they locate them,” he said.

While the tribe will be allowed to self-regulate its off-reservation businesses, Taubel said the agreement allows the state to conduct an annual site inspection at every facility. If state regulators have reason to believe the tribe is selling products that pose safety risks, they can conduct additional inspections and even place an embargo on the products.

White Earth Nation will be allowed to open cannabis cultivation and manufacturing facilities outside of its reservation as well, and it can open wholesale, transportation and delivery businesses, Taubel said.

Under the agreement, White Earth Nation will be required to collect local and state sales taxes, as well as the state’s 10% tax on cannabis gross receipts, on all off-reservation marijuana purchases. The tribe may negotiate a revenue-sharing agreement with the state in the future.

Tribally owned businesses will be exempted from local cannabis ordinances, but they will be required to follow other local regulations, according to the compact. All cannabis products sold outside of tribal land must be labeled and tested according to state standards, Taubel said.

About five of Minnesota’s 11 tribal nations have made significant progress in negotiating compacts with the state, Taubel said. He expects the next compact could be signed within a couple weeks.

If every tribal nation negotiated a compact agreement like White Earth’s, Minnesota could eventually see more than 80 tribally licensed cannabis dispensaries open outside reservations. But Taubel said it’ll likely take years for tribes to reach that point.

“Candidly, I don’t suspect any tribe will get past about three to four stores for the next two years just because of the actual cost in setting up these stores,” Taubel said.

News of the compact being signed Tuesday took Wilson by surprise, he said. He had been waiting months for confirmation, previously telling the Star Tribune in February that the Moorhead location would open in mid-March. He’s had 25 to 30 people hired for almost two months working at the tribe’s dispensary in Mahnomen until Moorhead could open.

Now that the compact has been signed, Wilson said the tribe can legally begin transporting cannabis products from its grow facility in Mahnomen to Moorhead.

White Earth Nation hopes to open a store in St. Cloud in mid-June, Wilson said. After that, the tribe will look to expand to the Mankato and Rochester area. Wilson said White Earth intends to open up the maximum number of stores allowed.

The Moorhead location, located in the former JL Beers restaurant building, will have cannabis flower and beverages immediately available for purchase while edible gummies and vape cartridges will be in store in the next two to four weeks, pending testing, Wilson said.

“I can’t even begin to share how excited we are and how proud to be a part of something so historical, monumental and something that’s absolutely going to help set precedence in the tribal space throughout the country,” Wilson said.