The Santee Sioux tribe is set to open first pot resort in the US on its reservation in Flandreau, South Dakota, according to the AP.
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Once the grow operation is firmly in place, the tribe plans to open a smoking lounge with a nightclub, arcade games, bars and a restaurant.
The Santee Sioux already operate a successful casino, hotel and a buffalo ranch on the reservation.
“We want it to be an adult playground”, tribal President Anthony Reider said. “There’s nowhere else in American that has something like this”.
A state-of-the-art growing facility has already been built, with the first range of products expected to be ready for the resort’s grand opening on New Year’s Eve.
The legalization of marijuana on the Santee Sioux land came in June, months after the Department of Justice outlined a new policy that allows Indian tribes to grow and sell marijuana under the same conditions as a few states.
Currently, the tribe is working on 30 different strains of marijuana, including “Gorilla Glue”, “Shot Glass”, and “Big Blue Cheese”.
“[The tribe] must look at these opportunities because in order to preserve the past we do have to advance in the present”, said Mr Reider. The Santee Sioux tribe hired Denver-based cannabis consultants Monarch America to teach them the weed growing basics. The AP reported at that time that South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said that, although use and possession of marijuana by “non-Indians” remained illegal in the state, he respected the tribe’s authority over its own people. The warehouse will be toured in mid-October by tribal leaders from across the county and South Dakota legislators. Colorado tolerates a handful of private marijuana clubs.
The prosperity that marijuana could bring to Indian Country comes with huge caveats.
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The resort has its critics-and will have to adhere to strict measures, including a prohibition against guests leaving the reservation with marijuana-but it represents an enormous economic opportunity for tribes that, across the country, tend to have very little. The pot will be sold in bar-coded 1-gram packages for about $12.50 to $15, which is relatively close to the price of weed purchased illegally, according to PriceofWeed.com.
