Pequots, Mohegans not pursuing cannabis sales — for the moment
While Native American tribes in some states are jumping into the emerging adult-use and medical-marijuana markets, the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribal nations seem content now to focus on expanded gambling opportunities with the recent arrival of sports betting at their Connecticut casinos.
The Mashantuckeet Pequots are exploring the possibility of eventual cannabis retail sales, but there is nothing planned in the immediate future for the tribal nation’s sprawling Foxwoods Resort Casino.
Chuck Bunnell, chief of staff for the Mohegan Tribal Nation, is more definitive.
“As the owners and operators of multiple properties across a number of jurisdictions, we are extremely mindful of any disparities in the individual laws and regulations of each area in which we operate, and the complexities caused by navigating those differences,” Bunnell said in an email response to an inquiry. “As such, the Mohegan Tribe has no plans to pursue a role within the cannabis industry at this time.”
Rodney Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council, said theFoxwoods owners are keeping their options open.
“The Connecticut legislation that legalized marijuana recognizes the inherent sovereign rights of Native American tribes and the ability for the state to enter into compact with tribes that would build a more collaborative working relationship in this new industry,” Butler said. “Our Tribe is exploring all of the options created by the legislation, and has no plans at this time.”
Under the law signed by Gov. Ned Lamont on June 22, which took effect on July 1 and set in motion plans to open adultuse dispensaries in mid-to-late 2022, an agreement would have to be reached between the governor and the tribes before cannabis businesses could start-up at Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun.
Max Reiss, communications director for Lamont, said there have been no such discussions with the tribes that would amend the existing compacts to give them the right to run dispensaries. Those compacts have been amended in recent weeks to allow for sports betting and online casino gambling.
Potential business opportunities are being explored by the Department of Consumer Protection and the recently impaneled Social Equity Council, including growing cannabis, processing it for sale, running retail establishments and delivering it either business-to-business or to consumers.
Tribes around the nation are getting into the cannabis business, including Native American councils in Michigan, Nevada and Washington State. In New York State, a controversy is brewing in the northern part of that state, where marijuana retail outlets have opened on the St. Regis Mohawk reservation, The New York Times recently reported.
Leafly, an online cannabis business and journalism site, has reported that the Cherokees, the largest tribal nation in the United States, are exploring the industry.
The site, as well as the MJBizJournal site, recently reported that the Cherokee Tribal Nation is considering opening cannabis businesses in North Carolina, where the state government hasn’t yet approved either adult retail sales or even medical cannabis. Leafly reported that cannabis sales were planned at Foxwoods, but the Mashantucket Pequots said the story was erroneous.