Local Tribe Launches New Business

A local tribe’s business development corporation opened a cannabis dispensary. Little Pines Dispensary opened in early July, selling Wisconsin made products, operating under a legal loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill, allowing them to sell hemp products that contain CBD only. The tribally owned store sells CBD products like drinks, tinctures, topicals, and edibles from seven different Wisconsin based vendors. Little Pines is licensed by the Lac Du Flambeau Regulation Agency, as well as approved by the USDA through the Tribal Hemp Program. If the state or a tribe submits a plan to the USDA, they are allowed to regulate themselves. That’s not the only benefit to Lac Du Flambeau having a dispensary. “If you buy here, it stays within the community,” said Director of Cultivation and Retail Operations, Candace Thompson. “We are tribally owned so it contributes to the general fund.” The tribe expects a profit of around $3 million by year seven of Little Pines’s operation.