A Voice from the Eastern Door
A Voice from the Eastern Door
Donald Delormier, owner of King Canna (center) and members of SRMT Council.
Justin Mitchell, well versed manager of King Canna. King Canna offers a variety of cannabis products.
Weedway, located across from Speedway and owned by Rick Hamelin officially opened on Friday. Weedway store manager Austin Learned, center and to the left is Justin Hamelin (holding scissors) with SRMT Council members.
Brianna Mitchell, weighs cannabis, cannabis products come from tribally licensed Iroquois LLC, Bankside and True Bloom.
Otto (Tommy) Thomas, legal owner of Budders. The retail store is as impressive inside as it looks outside.
Jason Thomas at Budders store offers the unique service of using hand sign language to assist a customer.
Inside Weedway, the background is the original window from the former gas station owned by Hamelin's grandfather.
by Kaniehtonkie
The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe's Council and members of the Cannabis Control Board were present for the official ribbon cutting – grand opening of tribally licensed cannabis retail stores.
On Friday, April 15th, King Canna, located at 8 Raquette Point Road and owned by Donald Delormier opened at 11am. King Canna offered a free lunch to the first one-hundred customers. At noon, the ribbon was cut to officially open Weedway, located at 935 State Route 37 and owned by Rick Hamelin.
On Wednesday, April 20th, an official ribbon cutting was held at Budders Cannabis Store, located at 508 State Route 37 and owned by Otto Thomas and managed by Ryan King.
Also on Wednesday, Dank Bank owned by Noah McDonald and located in the former bank in Fort Covington held a ribbon cutting.
All tribally licensed cannabis stores carried products from tribally licensed Conditional Cultivation operations located in Akwesasne and some carried products from unlicensed operations. All retail stores carried products in packaging that looks like candy or cereal aimed at young children. With Scooby Doo characters, cinnamon toast cereal logos, pop tarts logos, and wheat thin logos – all familiar products children can easily identify.
When Budders store owner was asked, what responsibility does this licensed establishment have if a child picks up a package that looks just like candy or cereal and ingests the THC product?
The owner replied, "None. We don't have any responsibility to the health of the child. The responsibility is in the hands of the consumer."
Chief Beverly Cook addressed this and some other issues saying, "As stores open, they will be heavily monitored and when an issue arises, it will be addressed. The store will have to comply to all rules and regulations associated to their license."
Dank Bank manager, Shatekaronhiàse said, "We only carry tribally licensed products and from reputable sources."
The grand openings of all tribally licensed cannabis retail stores were impressive, the staff was friendly and very knowledgeable of their stock. Each owner mentioned special staff training for ID identification, cannabis stock knowledge and presenting 'good service.'
The first of three Conditional Cultivation Licenses were issued to local entrepreneurs early in 2022. According to SRMT and CCB, 'Each of whom have demonstrated a commitment to the Tribe's Adult Use Marijuana Ordinance.' Business ventures who received Conditional Cultivation Licenses are Tru Bloom, owned by Vance Thompson; Bank Side Flowering Company, owned by Noah Mitchell; and First Americans, LLC, owned by Rick Hamelin.
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