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While much of the focus among cannabis industry stakeholders in New York is trained on how government officials and courts are carrying out state policy, NY Cannabis Insider hosted an event which spotlighted legal marijuana on tribal land.
More than 100 industry insiders gathered at Madame Mikette’s in Midtown Manhattan Tuesday evening for a get-together featuring a live discussion in which panelists talked about New York State’s past and present relationship with indigenous tribes, proposed legislation, and how tribal governments are handling cannabis legalization.
Thunder Anderson, a member of the St. Regis Mohawk tribe, spoke about obtaining a license and operating a cannabis business on tribal territory. Anderson is the manager of Famous A’s, a Massena-based cannabis business licensed through the Mohawk Long House Council.
When someone is applying for an on-territory business license of any kind, the approval process looks deep into an applicants’ past, Anderson said. Although tribes that allow adult-use cannabis have been much quicker than New York State to stand up a regulatory structure, Anderson joked that if an applicant broke a window in elementary school, tribal regulators will find out during the application process.
Overhead view of the NY Cannabis Insider NYC meetup and networking event on August 15, 2023.
Attorney Matt Leonardo, who represents indigenous nations as a member of Hinman Straub’s Health Law and Government Relations departments, discussed federal statutes that give tribal governments the authority to regulate cannabis in any way they choose.
“The nations can have adult-use rules on-territory that are separate and apart from the state’s, so long as the state has adult-use,” Leonardo said. “Now that we have adult-use, the Nations have their own regulatory/licensing regime.”
Leonardo also spoke out about a bill the New York legislature passed – but which Gov. Kathy Hochul hasn’t signed into law – that would allow adult-use cultivators and processors to sell their cannabis to tribal nations.
Attendees at NY Cannabis Insider’s New York City meetup and networking event on August 15, 2023.
The legislation would benefit cannabis retailers on tribal territory, and help New York-licensed growers and processors to sell some of the weed they’re sitting on as they wait for more dispensaries to open on the state market, Leonardo said.
“There’s an untapped indigenous market here,” Leonardo said. “We know a couple of nations that would be interested in purchasing from the commercial market, and it would be a substantial amount – maybe between $5 million and $15 million.”
Attorney Joseph Bondy, whose practice includes cannabis licensing and state and federal criminal defense, went further, arguing that tribes should be able to sell marijuana to New York State businesses, in addition to being allowed to buy from state-licensed businesses.
Attendees at the NY Cannabis Insider’s New York City meetup and networking event on August 15, 2023.
“It seems to me that there should be some reciprocity,” Bondy said. The tribal nations should be able to actually sell (New York State businesses) weed, too. That is a project we’re working on.”
However, Leonardo said he’s pessimistic about the bill and thinks Gov. Hochul will veto the measure.
Lance White, a Mohawk cannabis entrepreneur from the territory of Akwesasne, criticized regulations that prevent free trade of cannabis between indigenous nations and states that legalized adult-use marijuana. White, the founder and president of cultivation/extraction/retail company Turtle Island Corporation, suggested it’s hypocritical for state governments to publicly support free trade with tribes, while barring trade of certain legal products, like weed.
“We talk all this free trade and sovereignty,” White said. “You can’t just choose what kind of product we’re allowed to bring.”
Sponsors for NY Cannabis Insider’s Aug. 15 meetup included Etain, New York’s only women-founded, vertically integrated medical cannabis company; Jeffrey Hoffman & Associates PLLC, a firm that focuses on clients in the cannabis industry; Zenco Payments, which offers regulatory compliant payment solutions; Cannabis Workforce Initiative, which promotes and supports social equity in the adult-use cannabis market by providing quality workforce development and legal education; and LIM College, which is offering cannabis courses for those looking to enter the legal cannabis marketplace.
NY Cannabis Insider’s next full-day conference is on Sept. 21 at the Pearl Street Grill & Brewery in Buffalo. Click here for tickets.