Tribal Programs
The current issues at play within the marijuana industry in tribal nations include:
- Lack of banking services continues to be an issue for tribal cannabis businesses. Here’s a map of Native American financial institutions compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. It is unclear however whether these Native American-owned banks have provided financial services for tribal cannabis businesses.
- Having legalized marijuana in their own communities, several tribal marijuana businesses have opened dispensaries within their respective territories. Issues arose when for instance in South Dakota, the Native Nations Cannabis Dispensary was opened by members of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe prior to the state opening its first medical dispensary. Non-Flandreau Sioux members were issued tribal medical cards for purchasing marijuana from the dispensary. Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg later confirmed that tribal medical cards for non-members were not a substitute for a written physician’s prescription as outlined in South Dakota’s medical cannabis regulations.
- Insurance for tribal cannabis businesses continue to present hurdles. In 2019, the California Native American Cannabis Association provided a draft summary which called out the state of California for enacting regulations that treat tribal nations as business entities rather than sovereign governments. This has led to a lack of interest from insurance carriers in insuring tribal cannabis businesses.
The Paiute Tribe of Utah is collaborating with Governor Spencer Cox to discuss ways in which the two governments can work together in developing a medical cannabis industry. Tribal chair, Corrina Bow, reiterated the health benefits associated with cannabis and the opportunity to boost economic growth for the largely rural tribal nation.
On August 5th, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians passed a medical marijuana ordinance for their tribal territory located in western North Carolina. North Carolina currently does not have a statewide medical marijuana program, yet medical marijuana within the tribe’s territory is legal for those with a valid patient card issued by the tribe as well as those with valid documentation showing that the person is a participant of a medical marijuana program in a different jurisdiction. In an interview with One Feather, Jeremy Wilson, EBCI governmental affairs liaison, reiterated that the tribe understood that patients transporting and consuming marijuana off of tribal territory is illegal – “Everybody understands that if you go off-Boundary with it, it’s still illegal. We’re adults – we understand that”. Prohibiting patients from doing so however will be an onerous task.
TILT Holdings Inc., a global, multi-million dollar technology company that offers cannabis business solutions has partnered with the Shinnecock Indian Nation of New York to develop vertical cannabis operations for Shinnecock’s Little Beach Harvest dispensary. For the joint venture, TILT will finance, build and provide management services for the tribe’s dispensary, including financing up to $18 million in capital expenditures to kickstart vertical operations.
Because sovereign tribal nations do not require state cannabis licensing, the cannabis industry among tribal nations will only continue to grow, paralleling the growth of the cannabis industry nationwide. Tribes tax marijuana sales at a rate similar to state taxes for marijuana purchases but the tax revenue goes directly to the tribe. Like the Paiute Tribe of Utah, this has been a huge economic advantage for tribes located in isolated areas where other streams of tax revenue such as casinos, are not an option.
The American Rescue Plan passed by Congress in March 2021, administered $1.75 billion to American Indian and Alaska Native government programs. Tribal nations are given some discretion in how the funds are used as long as they are allocated to designated pots of funding, some of which include Tribal Housing Improvement, Tribal Government Services, Public Safety and Justice, Social Services, Child Welfare Assistance, among others. Tribal governments may be able to distribute some of these funds to existing or future cannabis programs implemented within their territories.