By Shayla Hyde, Cronkite News
Tribal leaders from California and Washington state last week discussed the potential opening of legal marijuana businesses on tribal lands.
Several members of the National Indian Gaming Association attended the meeting and touted the financial and health rewards.
David Vialpando, Santa Ysabel Gaming Commission chairman in Southern California, said the Iipay Nation has a marijuana enterprise that didn’t require a financial investment but reaps revenue.
Vialpando said the tribe creates revenue by leasing tribal land for growing marijuana, taxing licensed dispensaries and charging regulatory fees.
The tribe has six cultivators, one testing lab and one distillation facility that are all run by non-tribal tenants. The business takes up approximately ten acres. The marijuana is strictly for medical use and goes to licensed dispensaries outside of tribal land.
Medical marijuana is legal in Arizona, but attempts to legalize recreational marijuana have failed at the ballot box… Read more at The Cannabist
