RED LAKE — The first legal sale of recreational marijuana in Minnesota was made on the Red Lake reservation on Tuesday to a tribal employee before a throng of journalists and tribal leaders.
Charles Goodwin, a Red Lake band member and employee of the tribal dispensary, selected some Nudder Budder and Caramel Creme — two of 12 cannabis strains the tribe grows on the reservation in rural northern Minnesota.
“It’s an honor to be the first recreational customer,” said Goodwin, who was also the first customer when the tribe opened its dispensary, NativeCare, for medicinal use in February.
The sale was greeted by cheers and fireworks outside the dispensary, where more than a hundred people lined up to make purchases on the first day of legal adult-use marijuana in Minnesota.
The tribe’s new radio station, WRLN, blasted hip-hop from speakers in the parking lot and nearby a food truck handed out “free munchies” — hot dogs, cookies and water — to customers and onlookers.
John Webster showed up three hours early to be the first in line. He drove from eastern North Dakota and had never been to the Red Lake reservation before. He said he looked at the menu online but was still deciding which to purchase.
“We’ll get a variety of things and…