Mohawks to vote on whether to allow legal cannabis in Kahnawake
As the first crops of legal cannabis fly off the shelves in and around Montreal, leaders in the Kahnawake territory are easing their way into the market.
The Mohawk community is voting this week on whether to even allow weed to be sold on the territory. Polls will close Saturday afternoon and, by Monday, the band council will know where it stands on the cannabis question.
“People in town, they’re really reserved and cautious on the recreational side (of cannabis),” said Gina Deer, the council chief in charge of economic development.
“That’s why the polling is taking place. If there’s to be the sale within the territory, what would that look like? Medical? Recreational? None?”
The polling comes on the tails of an effort, by the band council, to create its own laws governing the growth and sale of cannabis on Mohawk land.
Unlike current provincial regulations, Kahnawake’s Cannabis Control Law sets the legal age for buying cannabis at 21 and it would establish a local health and safety board to oversee dispensaries.
The legislation is making its way through a public consultation process. Should the community decide to move forward with the sale or production of cannabis, they have a tentative deal in place with Canopy Growth — Canada’s largest manufacturer of legal weed.
Though Deer admits many of the details are still being ironed out, the company has floated the idea of building a 4,500-square-metre production facility on the South Shore territory.
“In terms of a partner using a referendum to do business with Canopy, this is uncharted territory for us,” said Jordan Sinclair, a spokesperson for Canopy Growth. “But it’s good, we understand that they ’re consulting with their community and our job is to help provide information.”
Sinclair says representatives from the band council have toured Canopy ’s flagship facility in Smiths Falls, Ont., and that the company is excited by the potential of partnering with a First Nation.
Chief Deer says there’s been a lukewarm reception in town to the notion of a legal, recreational cannabis market.
“There seems to be support for the medical side,” said Deer. “I’m looking at ensuring that we have majority Mohawk-owned business and loyalty from someone who is comfortable doing that. We’re not the experts in the field, we rely on people who are. Canopy is definitely an expert.”
A production facility would bring well-paid jobs and possible revenue sharing to a community whose local economy leans heavily on the Indigenous tobacco trade.
Meanwhile, at least one unregulated dispensary is challenging Kahnawake’s moratorium on selling cannabis in the territory as the legislative process inches forward.
The Greenleaf dispensary sells cannabis flowers, oils and other products to adults who say they have a medical need for the drug. They’ve been shut down by local police three times since opening last spring. On Montreal’s North Shore, in the sister Mohawk community of Kanesatake, AAA Medic has partnered with Native Spirit Cannabis to cultivate and sell pot on the territory.
As part of the agreement, the company will donate a percentage of its profits to local initiatives.
“We want to see First Nations have a stake in this industry before it’s too late,” said Blake Freeman, who co-owns Native Spirit. “By partnering with us, companies are putting wealth back into communities who could use it.”