Buyers line up at St. Cloud weed dispensary on opening day

ST. CLOUD — A line of more than four dozen people outside Waabigwan Mashkiki snaked around the corner of the small strip mall in St. Cloud just before 10 a.m. Wednesday.

That’s when the doors opened to customers for the first time — the St. Cloud weed dispensary’s opening day — marking the second off-reservation cannabis dispensary for White Earth Nation.

Patrick Slusar, 33, of St. Cloud was first in line. He said he wanted to be able to say he was the first person in St. Cloud to buy legal weed — the recreational kind, at least.

The store opened in a former LeafLine medical dispensary at 141 33rd Av. S. While medical marijuana became legal a decade ago, the Legislature legalized recreational cannabis just two years ago.

White Earth’s cannabis company, Waabigwan Mashkiki (“flower medicine” in Ojibwe), opened its flagship dispensary in Mahnomen, Minn., in 2023 and its first off-reservation store in Moorhead, Minn. in May. All the products are made in Minnesota at a facility in Mahnomen.

“It’s another historical moment,” said Zach Wilson, chief executive officer of the tribe’s cannabis company. “This has never been done in the country.”

Minnesota is the first to give tribes an early foothold in the recreational cannabis market by allowing them to operate dispensaries off reservations. Wilson said it’s an unusual agreement that allows tribes to work side by side with the state and maintain sovereignty.

After long delays, the state’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) in June finally held the first lotteries to begin awarding non-tribal cannabis business licenses.

The agreements, while historic and celebrated in Indian Country, have been met with skepticism and pushback elsewhere, with some saying it’s an unfair advantage for tribes.

Some business owners, advocates and state lawmakers are frustrated that the state has taken nearly two years to issue cannabis business licenses to Minnesotans and are concerned the compacts could give tribes long-term market advantages.

White Earth Tribal Chair Michael Fairbanks said in a phone interview Tuesday that he doesn’t believe it’s unfair for tribes to get an early jump on the legal cannabis market. Rather, he said tribes are filling gaps in the market to serve customers who “use our products in good ways, especially when it comes to pain management, anxiety or depression.”

Fairbanks said White Earth having a medical marijuana program so early on helped prepare the nation for this moment of economic development and tribal self-determination.

In St. Cloud on Wednesday, patrons said they were simply happy to be able to buy cannabis flower and accessories. Soon, the store will sell edibles and other products.

“Everyone is just so excited we’re open,” said employee Alex Boehmer, a “budtender” who helps customers learn more about the products.

Boehmer trained at the Moorhead store. He said many patrons don’t know much about the products, except for brief research from the internet.

Some of the customers Wednesday said they use medical marijuana and wanted to compare prices at the new retail store. And some, like 26-year-old Kole Scott, said they were excited to try a few different hybrid strains from Waabigwan Mashkiki.

“Nothing that gives me couch lock,” Scott said with a laugh.

“It’s going to be nice,” he said. “I’ll be able to stop here, get something that I’ve preordered, drive home and enjoy it with friends.”

“That’s what it’s all about.”