With the opening of state-licensed marijuana dispensaries still months away, several of Minnesota’s tribal nations have stepped in to meet the demand from consumers eager to purchase cannabis legally.
Readers asked us what the Leech Lake Band’s cannabis store was selling. Here’s what we learned.
The Sweetest Grass dispensary says some of its premium marijuana strains are actually hemp purchased from out-of-state companies. Our testing found otherwise.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
July 21, 2024 at 6:50PM
As sovereign nations that are not bound by state law on tribal lands, each has established its own cannabis laws and regulations. As a result, it’s not always easy for customers to determine exactly what they’re buying — or how tribal regulators ensure that cannabis products are safe.
Minnesota law is clear that adult-use cannabis and hemp products sold by state-regulated businesses must be tested by a licensed laboratory for potency and undergo a broad range of safety tests for contaminants, including mold, pesticides, heavy metals and bacteria and other microorganisms.
None of the four tribes currently operating licensed cannabis businesses have posted online their regulations governing the sale of cannabis.
Multiple readers asked the Star Tribune for help finding more information about some of the cannabis products being sold at one tribal dispensary, Sweetest Grass near Walker on the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe’s reservation. Here’s what we found.
The Leech Lake Band’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission does not require marijuana sold by Sweetest Grass to be tested for contaminants, according to the tribe’s cannabis regulations that were provided to the Star Tribune by Leech Lake Band general counsel Christopher Murray.
The rules mandate only that their cannabis products be tested in accordance with the standards of the jurisdiction where they were produced.
Lab reports for a number of cannabis strains sold by Sweetest Grass reviewed by the Star Tribune included no safety test results. When asked if the dispensary has sold cannabis flower that has not undergone safety testing, Murray did not respond.
“The Band is committed to ensuring safe and compliant products are available at any retail dispensary licensed by the Band,” Murray wrote in an email.
Carol Moss is an Edina attorney specializing in cannabis law who was appointed by Gov. Tim Walz to serve on Minnesota’s Cannabis Advisory Council. She said consumers who shop at licensed marijuana dispensaries expect that the products being sold have been thoroughly tested and are safe to consume.
“That’s one of the main reasons why people buy from licensed dispensaries — that they feel there is a level of confidence that what they’re buying and consuming is safe,” Moss said.
At Sweetest Grass’ grand opening last month, a menu on a whiteboard highlighted two tiers of cannabis flower strains for sale. The “gold” strains were supplied by White Earth Nation’s tribally owned Waabigwan Mashkiki cultivation facility in Mahnomen.
The more expensive “platinum” tier included higher-THC strains. The menu included no information identifying their origin.
Michael Michaud, board chair of Sweetest Grass’ parent company Leech Lake Cannabis Co., said out-of-state hemp companies, including in Colorado and California, supply much of Sweetest Grass’ most-expensive cannabis flower.
Michaud added that he believes these strains are legal under the 2018 federal farm bill that legalized hemp products containing less than 0.3% Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in marijuana that produces its high, by dry weight.
Lab reports provided by Sweetest Grass and reviewed by the Star Tribune for several of its platinum strains – including Gush Mints, Purple Gusher and Biscotti – were paid for by Rogue River Organics, a licensed hemp business based in Medford, Ore. Reports for other platinum strains, including White Zerbert, Mac 1 and Rapture, named Denver-based Rad Hemp Co. as the source. Neither company is licensed to produce or sell marijuana in their respective states.
Several of the reports were produced by Marin Analytics, a California laboratory that does not offer the full regimen of safety testing typically required for marijuana products sold by state-licensed dispensaries, according to its website. Multiple calls and emails to Marin Analytics received no response.
The lab reports provided by Sweetest Grass showed that each platinum strain contained less than 0.3% Delta-9 THC. The products were also rich in tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCa), a compound that does not produce a buzz but converts to THC when smoked or otherwise heated.
Both the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration consider so-called THCa flower to be marijuana, not hemp. State and federal law require the amounts of Delta-9 THC and THCa to be combined when calculating a product’s THC content. OCM spokesman Josh Collins said that as of mid-July, regulators have destroyed more than 150 pounds of illegal cannabis flower, with an estimated value of $489,000, seized from 94 retailers.
But the OCM has no jurisdiction over tribal cannabis businesses. It referred all questions about Sweetest Grass’ products to the Leech Lake Band.
“Minnesota requires hemp products sold under Minnesota law to meet strict THC requirements throughout their lifespan until it is sold as a hemp product,” Murray, the Leech Lake Band attorney, wrote in an email. “Leech Lake [Band] does not have the same consideration and has licensed the sale of products containing any concentration of THC, regardless of the origin.”
At least one of the out-of-state products sold by Sweetest Grass isn’t allowed to cross state lines under current federal law, according to test results arranged by the Star Tribune.
A reporter purchased a small amount of Gush Mints — a strain of cannabis flower previously sold by Rogue River Organics, the Oregon hemp company, that was listed as a platinum strain on Sweetest Grass’ menu. Independent laboratory potency testing found Gush Mints was in fact marijuana, containing nearly four times the allowable amount of Delta-9 THC to be considered hemp. The lab report for Gush Mints provided by Sweetest Grass included no safety testing information.
“According to our results, this plant material could not be classified as hemp in Minnesota, according to any statute,” said chemist Emily Hoffman of St. Paul’s Legend Technical Services, which analyzed the sample of Gush Mints. It is the same lab used by White Earth Nation’s Waabigwan Mashkiki to test the gold strains sold by Sweetest Grass.
Murray declined to comment on the results of the Star Tribune’s testing.
“Sweetest Grass relies on the vendor’s independent [certificate of analysis, or lab test report] to ensure product compliance,” Murray, the tribe’s attorney, wrote in an email.
Staff writer Kim Hyatt contributed to this story.
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