The Siksika First Nation in Canada wants to build a 25,000-square-foot medical marijuana grow operation outside of Calgary on tribal land, which would make it the first tribe to produce medical cannabis in that country.
The Siksika Nation has joined with LDI Group and submitted an application to Health Canada for a license to grow medical cannabis, according to CBC News. The tribe hopes to have the production facility up and running by 2018.
A tribal spokesperson said the use of MMJ fits with tribe’s view of holistic medicine and hopes to help tribal members with a variety of ailments through medical cannabis, according to CBC News.
In the United States, Native American tribes have had mixed success in the cannabis business, given that the federal government still classifies marijuana as an illegal narcotic. The Squaxin Island Tribe in Washington State opened the first-ever Native American recreational cannabis shop in November 2015.
