Last week, the Flandreau Santee Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota became the first reservation to take advantage of a new Justice Department policy granting tribes the freedom to legalize marijuana, even in states that have not legalized.
According to Keloland News, the reservation will be setting up places to purchase both recreational and medical marijuana for those 21 and up. Customers under 21 will be able to purchase medical marijuana if advised by a doctor.
Sales will also be limited to one gram at a time, and tribal attorney Seth Pearmen insisted to KSFY that this will not be a freewheeling industry.
“Tribal members who live on the reservation can’t consume it in their home; they can’t purchase it to give to children,” he said. “We will still utilize the same criminal codes we did before for people who violate our ordinance.”
The legalization appears to stem partly from concerns about the existing black market for marijuana.
“Right now you don’t know how the product is grown, if they’re getting it illegally in the area…our strands are safer, they’re not grown with chemicals, and it is 100 percent pure marijuana, with different strains grown specifically for the medical side,” Tribal President Tony Reider told KSFY.
The Justice Department announced late last year that they would allow Native Americans to grow marijuana on their reservations, regardless of the drug’s legal status in their state.
Tribes are required to follow federal guidelines, including not transporting it to areas where it remains illegal. Non-Indian South Dakotans are still banned from the substance.
Although over 100 tribes have looked into growing marijuana since DOJ’s announcement, this is the first tribe to actually legalize in a state where the drug is illegal.
