As the U.S. government slowly loosens its grip on marijuana, the pot industry has seen its fair share of stoner-related innovation. Now, a Native American tribe in South Dakota is getting in on the act with the country’s first marijuana resort. What does a marijuana resort look like? According to the Associated Press, “Santee Sioux leaders plan to grow their own pot and sell it in a smoking lounge that includes a nightclub, arcade games, bar and food service, and eventually, slot machines and an outdoor music venue.”
A bar? Nightclub? Food? On weed? It sounds a lot like every small town in America, rebranded as a resort. “We want it to be an adult playground,” tribal President Anthony Reider told the AP. “There’s nowhere else in American that has something like this.” That sounds a little more compelling. So it’s more like a mashup of small town America, on weed, and Las Vegas—in South Dakota. Color me not totally convinced. But here’s more from the AP:
The project, according to the tribe, could generate up to $2 million a month in profit, and work is already underway on the growing facility. The first joints are expected to go on sale Dec. 31 at a New Year’s Eve party… [The] indoor marijuana farm is set against a backdrop of soybean fields. If not for a security booth outside, the building could pass as an industrial warehouse. Inside, men are working to grow more than 30 different strains of the finicky plant, including those with names like “Gorilla Glue,” ”Shot Glass” and “Big Blue Cheese.”
The small tribe, which already runs a casino in the plains of the state, is understandably looking for new sources of revenue and legalized marijuana on the reservation in June after it was sanctioned by the Justice Department. The “resort” could be unique in that even in states where pot has been legalized public consumption is typically against the law, but those restrictions don’t seem likely to last.
