As NY preps pot market, sales grow on Native American land

But it’s clear that more are on the way.

A gleaming new “superstore” called Budders is on track to open along the Mohawk reservation’s main strip in mid-April — with a tribal license. CEO Ryan White seemed unfazed by the existing competition, saying the store’s size and selection of regulated, locally grown products will help give them a long-term advantage.

“We know that there’s a big market for cannabis,” White said. “We see people as far as 50 miles away coming in. They come in for gas and for tobacco products, and we’re going to be targeting them too.”

The Cayuga Nation, which already sells marijuana at two of its stores in the Finger Lakes, plans to open a cultivation facility before the year ends. The cannabis business “is the next step in expanding and diversifying the Cayuga Nation’s economic opportunities,” they said in a prepared statement.

And near the eastern tip of Long Island, the Shinnecock Indian Nation is working with two outside companies on a cultivation facility and dispensary. Phoenix-based TILT Holdings will provide management services and up to $18 million for the operation along the main highway to the Hamptons, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) east of New York City.

Already approved for sales of medical marijuana, the tribe’s cannabis business, Little Beach Harvest, will seek a recreational sales license from tribal regulators.