Tribal Council Chairman Austin Greene Jr. and Oregon Governor Kate Brown have signed an inter-governmental agreement for the tribes’ cannabis project.
The agreement between the tribes and state—the first of its kind in Oregon and unique in the nation—took about a year to accomplish.
The agreement will allow the tribes to sell on-reservation grown cannabis in the state off-reservation market.
Essential aspects of the agreement are the tribes’ own cannabis regulations, and the tribal cannabis commission.
The commission works cooperatively with the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which regulates the cannabis market in the state.
The tribal regulations meet or exceed the state standards, said Don Sampson, Warm Springs Ventures executive director.
Purchasers are assured that the highest health and safety standards are met with the tribal product, Mr. Sampson said.
The tribes are working with a new cannabis production management team partner. “I’m very confident in their abilities and expertise,” Sampson said.
The cannabis greenhouse operation overall will be a total of 24,000 square feet in size. Sixteen-thousand square feet will be for the greenhouse, and 8,000 square feet for the production warehouse and offices.
The scale is about one-third smaller than initially planned: The idea is start with a smaller project, gain expertise, and then expand some time in the future, Mr. Sampson said.
The start-up cost is also more manageable with the smaller facility, he said. There are three phases of the project, moving forward now that the inter-government agreement is in place.
The first phase is site work and construction of the greenhouse. Phase 2 is the processing of the product, and phase 3 is the establishment of an off-reservation retail store.
Ventures is also planning to meet with the officials of the Puyallup Tribe, which operates a cannabis testing facility, a point of serious interest to Warm Springs.
