Editor's Note: This story was originally published Nov. 7 and was updated Nov. 10 to reflect that the license was awarded to a company Belushi is a minority owner in.
Belushi’s Farm, a vertically integrated cannabis and CBD company owned by American actor and comedian Jim Belushi, is opening a dispensary on the Saint Regis (Akwesasne) Mohawk Tribe territory in upstate New York.
The Saint Regis Akwesasne Mohawk Tribal authorities awarded a license to a company majority owned by tribal member Zach Oakes, which Belushi is a minority owner in.
Belushi founded Belushi’s Farm in 2015 to operate within Oregon’s medical cannabis market. The company segued into the CBD market last year, launching k-9ine, a full-spectrum CBD tincture for pets inspired by Belushi’s dog, Taro. Aside from its Oregon location, Belushi's Farm has license partners in Oklahoma, Illinois, Michigan, Maine, Nevada, Arizona, South Dakota, Mississippi, California, Colorado, Massachusetts and Montana.
READ MORE: Jim Belushi’s Cannabis Mission
While adult-use cannabis sales have yet to launch in New York, Native American nations have sovereignty, which enables their tribal governments to develop their own set of rules and regulations regarding cannabis, Politico reported.
There are currently 16 licensed retailers and five licensed cultivators under the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal (SRMT) Council, according to the SRMT Cannabis Control Board,
Tribal fees collected from Belushi’s Farm in Akwesasne—located at 987 State Route 37—and other licensed dispensaries on the Mohawk territory will be used to help support community programs and services, according to a press release from SRMT Council.
Adult-use sales in New York are on track to launch by the end of this year. Regulators are currently reviewing more than 900 retail license applications, and the state’s Office of Cannabis Management released guidance Oct. 28, which sets expectations for those awarded a retail license.
