You can now buy marijuana at legally licensed shops in Akwesasne

Apr 12, 2022 —

New Yorkers can now legally buy weed from a handful of tribally licensed shops in Akwesasne. The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Council announced the regulated market in a release on Monday. 

Three Akwesasne retail locations and two cultivation businesses are included under the regulation, including Budders Cannabis Store, King Canna, and Weedway.

According to the release, these dispensaries are the first in the State to be tribally licensed.

Businesses will be regulated under the same limitations set out in State Law but overseen by the Tribe’s cannabis control board. 

The State legalized recreational marijuana last year but has yet to authorize any retail stores.

Several other cannabis retailers in Akwesasne area have been open for business for more than a year, despite not getting tribal licenses.

A tribal court judge ruled last summer that the dispensaries did have licenses from the traditional Mohawk longhouse governing council.