KILL BUCK, N.Y. — With New York State government just beginning to build the product and regulatory pipeline that will eventually bring recreational marijuana to consumers, dispensaries have already sprouted on Seneca Nation territory.
Responding to a tip, 2 On Your Side Thursday visited the Kill Buck area, about a 15-minute drive south of Ellicottville. Along a 2.5 mile stretch of Rt. 417, there are three dispensaries.
The owner of one of pot shops was happy to talk with us, as long as he was not identified, “Everything is like here is grown on territory. I mean there’s no imports.”
The shop, Outer Limits, has just been open for two weeks. And despite the local competition, we did see customers at his dispensary while we visited.
All three marijuana businesses technically were not selling cannabis. Rather, they were selling novelty items that come with a cannabis gift. At Outer Limits stickers run from $35 - $285. As a customer pays more, quality and quantity of the marijuana gifts increase.
This sales maneuver is to deter federal authorities from having a closer look at their operations. As far as state government is concerned, the dispensaries are above board.
Spokesman Jason Gough of the Office of Cannabis Management tells 2 On Your Side, “Dispensaries are legal if they are on federally recognized, sovereign tribal land.”
The Seneca Nation’s Cannabis Office did not disclose just how many dispensaries there are on the reservations, but the owner of Outer Limits believed there are several more, possible near Irving.