The road to indigenous sovereignty is not through legal weed
Since cannabis was legalized in 2018, the industry’s profiteers in the new multi-billion dollar market have been overwhelmingly white men. Meanwhile, tribal peoples who have been disproportionately criminalized for possessing cannabis remain over-represented in cannabis arrests in Canada.
The Cannabis Act allowed provinces and territories to regulate the distribution and sale of cannabis. In the meantime, the federal government has been given the authority to regulate the cultivation of the plant.
The First Nations were not given the ability to regulate the distribution, sale or cultivation of cannabis on sovereign or non-ceded land.
In fact, they argue that there was no meaningful consultation with indigenous peoples at all in the run-up to cannabis legalization. A First Nation statement said that “Canada did not consider indigenous interests in legalizing cannabis.”
Critics argue that this has effectively deterred indigenous cannabis entrepreneurs from entering the legal market. As a result, the First Nations were forced to exercise their jurisdiction and struggle for access to the market.
In a list of federal priorities for 2021, the First Nations Assembly called on the federal government to recognize the First Nation’s jurisdiction over cannabis and remove institutional barriers that prevent indigenous entrepreneurs from entering the legal market.
There are more than 250 sovereign indigenous cannabis pharmacies across Canada, according to Dispensing Freedom.
Medicine Wheel, Mississaugas of the Credit
In Toronto, Mississaugas, the Credit Medicine Wheel, an indigenously owned and operated cannabis store, deals with what its owner calls “economic genocide.”
The Medicine Wheel is a government pharmacy, meaning it is not subject to Ontario cannabis regulations and is not licensed.
Since the store is located on Danforth Avenue in Mississaugas in Credit Territory, the operator told the Toronto Star that it was entitled to self-government on indigenous land.
Legacy 420, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory
In 2015, indigenous entrepreneur Tim Barnhart opened Legacy 420 in the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory with the intention of creating a space where medical cannabis would be easily accessible to friends and anyone else who needed it.
“The fact that cannabis is medicine is one of the only reasons it’s as widespread as it is in indigenous communities. However, it is completely illegal to even infer medical benefits. ”
Jordan Brant, Marketing Assistant at Legacy 420
Jordan Brant joined the company a year after it was founded and now works as a marketing assistant and training coordinator. He has seen the business develop from a small shop to a full-fledged space with an in-house test laboratory.
Today the thriving company has a complete seed-to-sale platform where most of its retail products are made on-site. Legacy 420 is one of about 30 cannabis retailers in the territory.
Before the influx of cannabis businesses, Brant says, residents of the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory earned less than the minimum wage. Nowadays, more people are employed and earn at least $ 15 an hour.
“People can now pay their bills without wondering where their next meal will be from,” says Brant. “People were taken out of desperate situations.”
In addition to higher wages for its employees, Legacy 420 proudly gives something to the community through its Neighbors Helping Neighbors Fund, which provides locals with gift cards for groceries, sports and recreation, educational support, and medical equipment.
When it comes to the cannabis law, Legacy 420 is not for it. “Rarely will you see alcohol sales, let alone production, in indigenous communities.”
“The fact that cannabis is medicine is one of the only reasons it’s as widespread as it is in indigenous communities,” says Brant. “Still, it is completely illegal to even infer medical benefits.”
“Much more misinformation about cannabis has been cleared up. The government wants to make money too, so they can’t say cannabis is the devil’s salad anymore. People wake up to the fact that they have been lied to about the effects of cannabis and its effects. “
Providing safe, high quality cannabis products with medical, therapeutic and healing benefits to indigenous and non-indigenous peoples was a core tenet of Legacy 420’s mandate.
Additionally, the law may allow provincial and federal governments to benefit from indigenous businesses by taxing cannabis and undermining the right to self-determination, which is a “deal breaker for Tyendinaga”.
A big part of the company’s passion for cannabis as a force for good is empowering indigenous peoples to become independent of restrictive, colonial regulatory frameworks.
Medicine wheel, Alderville First Nation
Rob Stevenson is the owner of Medicine Wheel, the first indigenous cannabis dispensary in Alderville First Nation, which opened on National Aboriginal Day in 2017. The company operates on a seed-to-sale model and has more than 60,000 registered members.
Cannabis has become the main engine of the First Nation’s economy, and Stevenson believes that such growth should benefit the community and help it build for the long term.
“To reduce colonization, we need to strengthen indigenous sovereignty and have meaningful control over our lives and territories in terms of our traditions, teachings and culture,” says Stevenson.
Medicine Wheel collaborated on the revised Disease and Treatments Guide 2021, which introduces indigenous cannabis products that can help cure and treat more than 20 common diseases.
“In the legal market, you can’t mention medical benefits, you can’t trade nation-to-nation, you can’t give money back to your community through sponsorships and endorsements, and you can’t represent animals,” says Stevenson.
Animals that play an important role in the spiritual beliefs and cultural practices of indigenous peoples can be seen on some Medicine Wheel products. For all of these reasons, Medicine Wheel has remained a part of the indigenous unregulated market.
The way the company works has not changed since legalization. Rather, competition has increased as more pharmacies have sprung up and saturate the market, resulting in a decline in sales and revenue.
“It costs millions and millions of dollars to become a licensed producer and most indigenous people don’t have access to that kind of money,” says Stevenson.
The economic capital required to start a cannabis business remains inaccessible to many, especially those who have been and continue to be persecuted by drug laws in the past. Stevenson wants the cannabis law to be changed with a view to the economic reconciliation of indigenous peoples.
“My goal is to be recognized by Canada. We’re on different paths, but in the same direction. Our greatest concern on both sides is safety: the safety of the community and the safety of consumers. ”
“We have a lot in common and I think we can work together and come up with a plan that is better suited for the First Nations.”
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