After the recreational cannabis initiative Proposition 207 (the Smart and Safe Act) passed in Arizona in 2020 with 60% of the vote, the first legal and state-licensed sales began in January 2021.

As Arizona cannabis operations picked up steam, Selena Espinoza, a Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community member, saw the challenges faced by cannabis companies after talking with her oldest daughter, who works in a cannabis lab. It prompted her to do something about it.

Espinoza began to research and visit cannabis operations and engage with Indigenous leaders already active in the cannabis industry, as well industry researchers, compliance experts and cannabis professionals who own dispensaries, cultivation facilities and testing labs.

In 2022, Espinoza founded Blue Star Dispensary Management to assist in the establishment of tribal cannabis ventures in Arizona and began actively engaging with Arizona tribes in the fall of 2024.

“Currently, we are meeting with various Arizona tribes to hold discussions, and we are thrilled to play a role in launching tribal cannabis businesses in Arizona,” said Espinoza, who expressed that exciting times are ahead. “With Arizona as our home, it’s a privilege to contribute to the successful development of these businesses.”

Espinoza is a mother of six adult children and grandmother to “a loving bunch of grandchildren.” Her parents are Garnet Gates (Lehi), a Marine Vietnam veteran and home building contractor, and Ramona Loring (Salt River), a former SRPMIC Juvenile judge. 

“Growing up in Salt River was a blessing,” said Espinoza.

She raised her children in the Community and emphasized the importance of staying engaged and supporting one another in the Community, “for the benefit of all.”

Espinoza, who will turn 55 this year, wanted to build opportunities for her family and people, creating work experiences and environments that foster growth, education and career development.

The Blue Star Dispensary Management team is a 50/50 balance of non-Native and Salt River Pima-Maricopa Community members.

As the business grows, a priority for Espinoza will always be to hire, educate and promote Community members and Indigenous people, not only within Blue Star Management, but also in the tribal cannabis business developments she hopes to help establish in tribal nations. 

Espinoza said that her team has broad and extensive experience in cannabis manufacturing, law, retail, cultivation, management and banking in Arizona. The team’s legal director, Thomas Dean, is a lifetime member of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) whom Espinoza refers to as one of the top cannabis lawyers in the U.S.

The professional backgrounds of the team also include tribal environmental regulation and sustainability, disaster recovery, planning and zoning, travel and tourism, solid waste, gaming and real estate.

“Our professional consortium… allows us to collaborate with tribes to build strong and sustainable cannabis enterprises,” said Espinoza.

Because each tribe has its own set of laws, values and vision for their members, Espinoza said there is no “one size fits all” template to assist tribal nations in entering the cannabis market. Blue Star Dispensary Management aims to support tribes in every phase of development, implementation and management of cannabis businesses.

“We aren’t in the business with tribes to just grow and make money,” said Espinoza. “It’s about building perpetual relationships with tribal nations. And it goes deeper than that, because we must take care of that which takes care of us.” 

Espinoza said that in addition to developing new tribal partnerships, Blue Star Dispensary Management is preparing for the next evolution of cannabis, which she says is the rescheduling of cannabis on the federal level from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. This would reclassify cannabis as having a lower potential for abuse than substances in Schedules I and II.

As more patents, partnerships and sponsored clinical trials come to fruition in the cannabis industry, Espinoza is excited to develop new tribal partnerships through her company to build “healthier medicines for treatment for tribal nations and beyond.”

Espinoza concluded, “We are honored to be a part of growing and harvesting the future of tribal cannabis.”

If you would like to learn more about Blue Star Dispensary Management, visit their website at www.bsdmservices.com.