Seneca Nation will open dispensary in City of Niagara Falls

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — A cannabis dispensary will open in the City of Niagara Falls but it’s a little different than the rest in New York State. The Seneca Nation’s Nativa Cannabis will open Wednesday morning.

Since Nativa Cannabis will operate on sovereign land, the nation didn’t need to ask permission from the city or acquire a license from the state. The dispensary at the corner of John B. Daly Boulevard and Niagara Street will have a drive-thru window. The products are still only for people 21 and older.

This comes a week after the state’s Cannabis Control Board issued 99 licenses to open dispensaries. No licenses were issued for the Finger Lakes region including Rochester because of an ongoing lawsuit filed by a Michigan company. However, a dispensary in Rochester did get permission to open by filing under the Western New York region, where licenses are allowed, rather than the Finger Lakes region.

More about local people seeking to open dispensaries:

• Business owner speaks out after retail cannabis sales injunction solely upheld in Finger Lakes region (March 28)
• Applicants awaiting NYS decision on legal marijuana licenses (Oct. 4)
• Rochester couple hoping to land Cannabis Dispensary License (Aug. 25)
• Newly licensed local marijuana processor says people are excited to use topicals, and other forms of cannabis materials (Aug. 23)
• Female business owners look to expand into marijuana business (May 31)

See our series “Cannabis Countdown” about what NYS can expect as dispensaries open:

• Prioritizing social justice
• What legalized marijuana might mean for taxpayers
• Inside a legal dispensary
• Will legal weed slow the illegal market?