Tribe is set to vote on legal marijuana

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe will vote this week on legalizing medical and recreational marijuana on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation in an initiative that many hope will bring economic development to one of the most impoverished areas in the country.

Neither South Dakota nor nearby Wyoming and Nebraska have legalized marijuana, and tribal leaders think pot could rake in millions of dollars. If the measure is approved, the Oglala Sioux Tribe would become the only American Indian tribe to set up a cannabis market in a state where it’s otherwise illegal.

“People will be coming in from all directions to get their medicine,” said Ricky Gray Grass, a tribal leader.

After witnessing the growth of the pot industry and the success of the Paiute Indian Tribe selling marijuana near the Las Vegas Strip, tribes across the nation — from the Red Lake Band of Chippewa in Minnesota to the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma — are considering the economic and medical potential of marijuana. But they also face uncertain policy on marijuana enforcement under President Donald Trump’s administration.

Cherokee Nation officials have argued that legalization would threaten some of the federal funding the tribe receives. California tribes have hesitated to set up dispensaries over fears they could lose their gambling licenses, said California Democratic Rep. Lou Correa. He introduced a bill to ensure tribes could sell pot, but it hasn’t gained traction.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe is poised to test federal and state policy. Tribal members will vote Tuesday on whether to approve medical marijuana, recreational marijuana, and allowing alcohol at the tribe’s casino. The tribal council is then supposed to implement any changes that voters approve.

Under the leadership of a new president, Julian Bear Runner, the tribe is arguing that its sovereignty gives it the right to cultivate and sell marijuana. His office is pitching it as a jump-start to the local economy that would provide jobs and bring in money to fix crumbling roads.