South Dakota opens first cannabis theme park

The Santee Sioux tribe has already proven its ability to run a casino, a 120-room hotel and a 240-buffalo ranch on the Dakota plains. Now they're tackling a new business venture: the opening of the first cannabis theme park.

The Santee Sioux plan to grow their own marijuana and sell it in private lounges, including a nightclub, arcade games, a bar and restaurant, and possibly slot machines.

«We want to make it an adult play space,» said Tribal Chairman Anthony Reider. «Nobody in America has anything like this.».

According to the tribe, the project could generate 2 million per month, and the cultivation areas are already under construction. The first sales should be able to take place on December 31 for New Year's Eve.

The cannabis legalization for the Sioux tribe was granted in June, after the Department of Justice allowed Indian tribes to grow and sell marijuana under the same conditions as U.S. states.

Many Indian tribes are still reluctant to join getting started in the cannabis industry. But the potential profit attracted the interest of a few tribes, as did the authorization of slot machines and gaming tables 27 years earlier.

«The vast majority of Indian tribes have few economic resources,» reports Blake Trueblood, Director of Business Development at the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. For these tribes, «it's something to look at, and why not say, we need to put something together».

The Santee Sioux farm is adjacent to a soybean field. Without safety restrictions, the barn could pass for a normal greenhouse. Inside, employees grow more than 30 different crops. cannabis varieties, including Gorilla Blue, Shot Glass and Big Blue Cheese.

The cannabis cultivation is not so easy: mildew, mold, pH control, etc... The Sioux Santee have hired a consulting firm from Denver to teach them the basics.

This is the first time that an amusement park in the cannabis opens in the United States, Even in states like Colorado and Oregon, where recreational use of cannabis is permitted. The Santee Sioux reservation covers 50 hectares near the Big Sioux River, suggesting the potential size of the theme park.

The Santee Sioux plan to use cannabis in the same way that most tribes rely on the casino: to generate money for the community and develop a regular income for tribal members. Existing businesses are already involved in the development of single-family homes retirement homes, clinics and after-school programs.

Marijuana profits could increase funding for housing, childcare centers and the addiction treatment (a big problem among Indian tribes) and clinic maintenance.

The prosperity that revenues generated by marijuana comes with several caveats. Cannabis is still federally banned, and the’2017 US election could modify the authorization to cultivate on tribal lands. Tribes must also follow strict security measures, or risk having their licenses withdrawn.

Each plant has its own barcode. After being harvested and prepared for marketing, the weed will be sold per 1 gram bag, between 12.5 and 15$ per gram. Consumers will be allowed to buy only 1 gram. Strangely enough, this will do nothing to destabilize the black market, where prices are equivalent, or even lower, for less limited quantities.

Other tribes, such as the Suquamish tribe, have begun the procedures to be able to grow cannabis in the same way, relying on the fact that «we must look to the opportunities of the future to preserve the past».