The first cannabis dispensary to open on New Mexico tribal lands has been in operation since July. Its owners say federal intervention has not been a problem so far.
According to Santa Fe New Mexican, the Wõ Poví Cannabis shop opened in Pojoaque Pueblo in early July. The shop was able to open under an intergovernmental agreement between the government of New Mexico and Pojoaque and Picuris pueblos. The agreements are meant to keep federal agents from interfering with the two pueblos’ cannabis markets. In September 2021, agents with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) raided a legal medical marijuana grow located on Picuris pueblo land. The agency has yet to answer for what tribal leaders say was an overreach.
But the agreements appear to be holding up and federal agents have stayed away from Wõ Poví so far.
General Manager Drew Little told reporters that he estimates nearly half of the dispensary’s sales were made to out-of-state visitors. He believes most of the local sales were made to medical cannabis patients.
Anti-Drug Group Hides Corporate Sponsors
An anti-drug group that is campaigning against a federal cannabis legalization bill notably removed a page on its website that listed corporate sponsors like Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer and the NFL.
The non-profit Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) recently removed the web page after its corporate sponsors came under fire for their associations with the group. CADCA has recently been urging voters to contact their U.S. senators and express their opposition to the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA), a bill that would remove marijuana from the list of federally prohibited substances and expunge the criminal records of cannabis prisoners.
CADCA listed nearly 50 corporate partners as financial supporters on a since-removed page located on its website. Among those listed were Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (phRMA), the NFL, Krispy Kreme, Deutsche Bank and media conglomerate Gannett—which owns USA Today and a number of other publications across the country.
According to Marijuana Moment, the group removed the page following public inquiry over the partnerships.
Booker Calls For Equity in Banking Bill
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) is threatening the progress of the SAFE Banking Act if sponsors don’t include revisions.
Booker previously threatened to block the bill unless the CAOA was passed, but recently said he’d be willing to compromise. Now the senator says he wants to see more measures for equity written into the banking bill. “Before moving forward, legislation like SAFE Banking requires changes to ensure that the communities most harmed by our broken marijuana policies receive support and small cannabis businesses can have the same access to capital as large multi-state operators,” Booker said in a press release.