420
NEWS
Sparking debate
Native American tribes weigh in on legalizing medical and recreational marijuana. By Wilhelm Murg
In October 2014, Department of Justice director Monty Wilkinson released a three-page memo regarding policies surrounding the Controlled Substances Act as it relates to Native American tribes. The “Wilkinson memo” states that priorities in an earlier memorandum “will guide United States Attorneys’ marijuana enforcement efforts in Indian Country, including in the event that sovereign Indian Nations seek to legalize the cultivation or use of marijuana in Indian Country.” By many, the memo was seen as a signal that marijuana was legal to sell on Native American land; tribes began investing in marijuana productions, and reservations planned pot resorts. However, it was not long before some of those same tribes were burning their crops and closing down operations for fear of government prosecution. Lael Echo-Hawk, who is Pawnee, is general counsel to National Indian Cannabis Coalition. She has been advising tribal leaders on subjects regarding the process of financing, designing and constructing marijuana cultivation and manufacturing enterprises since legalization began in Washington state in 2012. Echo-Hawk spoke with Oklahoma Gazette about the issues surrounding marijuana sales and production among tribes in Oklahoma, which will likely become a major issue in coming months. Oklahoma has one of the highest Native American populations in the country, second only to California.
Sparking interest
Echo-Hawk said only two tribes have opened small retail shops in the country, and they are both in Washington state. She sees this as an indication of how tribes interpret the memo. She said the directive gives tribes the freedom to see if their local district attorney desires to enforce
be sold in the state. Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, along with the state of Nebraska, recently attempted to sue Colorado due to its legalized marijuana flowing into neighboring states, claiming it impeded Oklahoma’s and Nebraska’s “sovereign interests” and ability to enforce federal antidrug laws. On March 21, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case. Furthermore, U.S. Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) introduced the KIDs Act (Keeping out Illegal Drugs Act) in the U.S. Senate last year. It would prohibit Native American tribes and tribal organizations from “cultivating, manufacturing or distributing marijuana on Indian lands,” knowingly allowing it to be done or failing to destroy a crop and alert the “appropriate federal official” if an individual or entity is found growing or selling marijuana. Under the proposed KIDs Act, tribes or tribal organizations found in violation would be stripped of all federal benefits agreed to via historic treaties between individual tribes and the U.S. government. Lankford, who serves on the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (BIA), cited his concern for “protecting future generations of Indians from the harmful effects of illegal drugs,” in the act’s language. “Senator Lankford’s bill is horrific,” Echo-Hawk said. “It’s a termination bill; it’s awful. … I understand he has some personal belief about this issue, but he doesn’t get to decide what tribes do simply because he has an opinion. “Senator Daniel Inouye, who was a very powerful politician from Hawaii, would always say that he was personally opposed to gambling, but that it was for tribes to decide what to do, not for him. Senator Lankford should take a cue from that.” An Oklahoma Gazette contributing reporter contacted Sen. Lankford’s office for a comment about the proposed bill for
Tribes are being treated quite a bit differently than the rest of the country when it comes to this issue. Lael Echo-Hawk drug laws. If the district attorney doesn’t and agrees to leave the tribe alone, marijuana can be sold. “The problem is that there’s no uniformed standard,” Echo-Hawk said. “All of the regions take a different approach.” Many Oklahoma politicians are hostile to the concept of allowing marijuana to 8
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this story. It sent a press release about the bill dated Aug. 6, 2015. “Last time I looked, the KIDs Act didn’t have any cosponsors,” Echo-Hawk said. “I think he was trying to send a message to tribes in Oklahoma, frankly, that Oklahoma is not going to support this kind of initiative.”
Lael Echo-Hawk | Photo Patricia Vaccarino / Provided
New world?
Most agree that the idea of a Native American tribe opening a marijuana operation in a state where it is illegal is not a smart one and likely won’t happen. But while all this is going on, Oklahomans for Health, the grassroots organization with the goal of getting medical marijuana to a public vote on November’s ballot, is preparing a signature petition. Based on previous experience with its 2014 petition drive, the organization believes it can easily get the needed signatures to add it to the ballot. It is possible that medical marijuana could be legal in Oklahoma by the end of the year. “There is definitely economic opportunity in the industry,” Echo-Hawk said. “If you look at Colorado, in 2014, they made $700 million in sales. The state made $70 million in taxes. For 2015, it looks to be almost double; it’s a lot of money.” She points to hemp production as another way to encourage economic development for tribes, which many agricultural organizations — including American Farmers & Ranchers in Oklahoma City — are now in favor of allowing. There is a high demand for hemp products in the U.S. Even though it is cannabis fiber with no psychoactive properties, hemp farming was also outlawed in 1970 under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA). “The only way to grow hemp under the
law is under the umbrella of the 2014 farm bill, which allows institutions of higher learning and resource institutes to grow hemp,” she said. “The Menominee tribe tried to do this up in Wisconsin, and the DEA came in and burned their stuff to the ground.” “[The tribe is in litigation with the U.S. Department of Justice] because the DEA, the state and the BIA said the tribal college is not an institute of higher learning for the purposes of the farm bill, which is total nonsense,” Echo-Hawk said. “Tribes are being treated quite a bit differently than the rest of the country when it comes to this issue.” A part of Echo-Hawk’s job is talking to congressional members, administrations and district attorneys as well as the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Indian Health Service (IHS) and Bureau of Indian Affairs. “They are all making policies. They are all trying to figure out how to handle this issue,” she said. “We are trying to make sure the tribes don’t lose their federal funding if they decided to engage in the industry.” Every time a tribe accepts federal funding for self-governance, it agrees not to violate federal law, Echo-Hawk said. “There’s no two ways about it; if you engage in the sale, manufacture or production of cannabis, as it is defined by the CSA, it is a violation of federal law. A lot of tribes are hesitant because of that,” she said. “Other tribes are hesitant because