Lead photo via NuWu Cannabis Marketplace

Less than four months into Nevada’s tenure as a haven for legal weed, relationships have already grown contentious between the state’s Native American tribes and the federal government.

With independent sovereignty on tribal lands and an approved piece of state legislature, SB 375, granting Nevada’s tribes a place in the cannabis industry, the state’s Native American population has a unique opportunity to create jobs and stability in their communities with the profits from legal weed.

But before any of Nevada’s 32 tribal reservations or colonies officially joined the green rush, the Paiute Tribe and their peers received some less than encouraging news from an official with the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs. According to Laurie Thom, the council chair of the Yerington Paiute Tribe, the law enforcement liason essentially threatened a specific federal crackdown on tribal grounds if the Paiutes got into the weed game.

"[We] would enforce federal law on Nevada tribes, because the US Attorney General would provide the necessary warrants," Thom recalled, quoting the federal official. "'Don't do it,' he said."

Still, after literally hundreds of years of baseless persecution, Nevada’s indigenous communities aren’t letting threats get in the way of their prosperity. Despite vague warnings from the feds, the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe has officially opened what it says is the “largest marijuana store on the planet” in downtown Vegas.

According to local Fox affiliate KVVU, the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe opened the NuWu Cannabis Marketplace this week, starting down a path that they hope will one day include 24/7 service and a drive-thru window.

Because the dispensary sits on a 31-acre plot of tribal land deemed Paiute Circle, NuWu is not subject to the same Nevada state regulations as Sin City’s other recreational pot shops. But Las Vegas Paiute tribal chairman Benny Tso says the gargantuan pot shop will run just like any other.

"We regulate ourselves, but it's pretty much a mirrored image of Nevada," Tso said. "I know we're under a microscope, so I think our regulations and our restrictions are a little bit tighter than the states'… We just want to be in the business just like everybody else. We want to be fair."

Customers at NuWu will see the exact same products and tax add-ons as other area dispensaries, but instead of sending the excess profit to state coffers, the extra fees will instead go towards funding programs like health services for the tribe.

"I actually bought the first product out of our store," Tso said. "I bought some Willie's Reserve and Skywalker OG."

The dispensary has only been open for five days and nothing is set in stone yet, but so far there have been no indications that the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Department of Justice plan to follow through on their previous threats.

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