skip to Main Content
Tribal Leaders Warned About Risks If They Push to Grow Marijuana

Tribes across the U.S. are finding marijuana is risky business nearly a year after a Justice Department policy indicated they could grow and sell pot under the same guidelines as states.

Federal raids on tribal cannabis operations in California followed by a South Dakota tribe’s move this month to burn its crop amid fears it could be next have raised questions over whether there’s more to complying with DOJ standards than a department memo suggested last December.

The uncertainty — blamed partly on thin DOJ guidelines, the fact that marijuana remains an illegal drug under federal laws, and a complex tangle of state, federal and tribal law enforcement oversight on reservations — has led attorneys to urge tribal leaders to weigh the risks involved before moving forward with legalizing and growing pot.

“Everybody who is smart is pausing to look at the feasibility and risks of growing hemp and marijuana,” said Lance Gumbs, a former chairman of the Shinnecock Tribe in New York and regional vice president of the National Congress of American Indians. “But are we giving up on it? Absolutely not.” [Read more at CBSNews.com]

This Post Has 0 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Stories

Kentucky’s Medical Cannabis Program Undergoes Dramatic Transformation: Navigating HB 829 and the Emergency Licensing Regulations

By Hannah King and Arin Aragona Plans for Kentucky’s medical cannabis program took a significant turn last week with the passage of House Bill 829 and the implementation of emergency…

Cannabis in Court: When Federal Courts Will Hear Commercial Disputes Related to the Cannabis Business

By Steven Ascher and Anna M.Windemuth The unique status of the cannabis business —  legal in a majority of states, but still illegal under federal law — creates a thorny…

Patchwork Regulation of CBD Products Continues Despite Rise in Demand

By Courtney A. Hunter and Jessalyn H. Zeigler Demand for cannabidiol (CBD) products continues to climb, and the market has risen to the occasion. There is now a robust array…

How Private Equity Trumped Social Equity in State Cannabis Deal

Confidential documents obtained by THE CITY reveal how Chicago Atlantic Group became one of the biggest beneficiaries of the state’s legalization program. Last June, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that a…

More Categories

Back To Top
×Close search
Search