MOORHEAD — The first tribal cannabis shop in Minnesota not located on a reservation opened in Moorhead over the Memorial Day weekend.

With a Bob Marley & The Wailers tune playing on the speakers, people stood outside the Waabigwan Mashkiki dispensary along Highway 10 on Moorhead’s east side for the 10 a.m. grand opening on Saturday, May 24.

CEO Zach Wilson said the line was there for hours, as people streamed in to buy cannabis flower, pre-rolled cannabis cigarettes and whole flower beverages.

Other products, including infused THC gummies, vape cartridges and concentrates will be available soon, once quality control tests are complete.

“We’ve had people steady all day come through here. We’ve had 200-300 people already come through the doors,” he said, as of 1 p.m.

The opening was made possible
when Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed a compact earlier in the week,
which outlines how the state and the White Earth Nation will work together to regulate the sale of cannabis.

Chris Flynn / The Forum

Wilson said it’s been a labor of love working through those negotiations over the past year.

“Yeah, it’s taken a minute, but just a lot of prep and, you know, foresight,” he said.

Wilson said 25 to 30 employees have been hired at the Moorhead location, most of whom were on hand Saturday. The company expects to open another dispensary in St. Cloud.

The cannabis sold at Waabigwan Mashkiki is grown at a cultivation facility in Mahnomen, on the White Earth Reservation, and transported to dispensaries on the reservation and now, off-reservation.

A visible security presence on opening day directed traffic, checked IDs to ensure customers are 21 or older and generally kept an eye on things.

Shaun Hoffart, security manager for Waabigwan Mashkiki, said security employees will be on hand whenever the dispensary is open.

“It’s just important to make sure that we keep the customer safe, as well as maintaining the security of the product and making sure it’s getting to the customer’s hands appropriately,” Hoffart said.

Customer Jeff Weyland of Fargo said he has a medical marijuana card in North Dakota but wanted to try something different.

A cancer survivor, he said he believes cannabis can prevent his cancer from coming back.

“They took a kidney out of me with a five pound tumor on it. Yeah, it’s been working ever since,” Weyland said, describing the cannabis flower, oils and vapes he uses.

Most other customers approached did not want to be interviewed or their name published, but two women spoke on condition their first names be used only.

Cindi said she’s been a pot smoker since age 16, and feels better getting it at a place that is “safe, secure, and you know it was grown and processed by people who know what they’re doing,” she said.

She smokes cannabis every night before bed, saying it helps her sleep “without nightmares.”

Emily also uses cannabis to help her sleep and to relax.

“I’m sure prices will probably be high to start, but should go down,” she said.

Chris Flynn / The Forum

With the dispensary opening,
Clay County Sheriff Mark Empting has reminded people they still “cannot drive high.”

To people who say making cannabis available this way might cause more crime or crashes in the community, Wilson said data doesn’t support that.

“If you look at alcohol and other types of drugs, almost 99% of the time, alcohol is going to be more of a leading cause of death of some sort than anything else,” he said.

He said he may be “biased” because he’s a cannabis user, but he’s passionate about the plant and the business.

“This is about creating revenue for the tribe and the community, and being able to have a brand that lasts, for longer than any of us,” he said.

Waabigwan Mashkiki is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day, he said.