Millbrook chief says on-reserve pot sellers aren’t protected by treaty rights

MILLBROOK, N.S. — There is no treaty agreement that supports the unauthorized sale of cannabis on Nova Scotia’s First Nation Reserves and the current “trafficking” operations are no different than bootlegging alcohol, Millbrook’s chief says.

“There is no treaty right protecting them in regards to selling, growing or distribution of cannabis whatsoever,” Gloade said, regarding a number of unauthorized retail cannabis operations that have sprung up in Millbrook and on other Nova Scotia reserves.

“It’s not a treaty or an aboriginal right because it does not state that anywhere. Our treaty rights basically focus around hunting and gathering not growing and distribution,” he said. “Individuals feel that it is a right and they’re extending it beyond the meaning of how the treaties are laid out in black and white and it puts us in a difficult situation.”

Gloade said at least nine individuals or businesses have begun selling cannabis on Millbrook Band lands in recent weeks. And he acknowledged that such operations are also taking place in Indian Brook (near Shubenacadie) and the Pakunet Band (near Antigonish).

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