MILWAUKEE — Leaders of the Lac Cote Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa say repealing federal marijuana prohibition would allow the state to tap into a multi-billion-dollar industry that is sweeping the country.
All forms of marijuana except CBD products are illegal in Wisconsin. Neighboring states Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois all allow recreational sales, which keeps Lac Cote Oreille out of the market, said Bill Trepanier, the tribe's secretary-treasurer.
“All the states around us have legalized it and it's bringing in a lot of tax money out of the state, so it just makes you wonder why Wisconsin isn't making much progress here,” he said.
Trepanier appeared on the radio news show “Native America Calling” on Monday during the Republican National Convention in Wisconsin to discuss what his tribe wants the U.S. government to accomplish for tribal nations across the nation.
Listen to the full Native America Calling Show
He says marijuana laws are a sovereign issue, and until the Wisconsin Legislature initiates reforms, the state's 11 tribal governments will be restricted from setting up marijuana businesses like tribes elsewhere in the country.
“We have about 80,000 acres on our reservation,” Trepanier said, “and we're always trying to expand our land base. We have a lot of forests here, lakes and streams. It's a very beautiful place.”
Until federal law is changed, the President of the United States can direct his administration to aggressively prosecute marijuana offenses, as President Donald Trump did when he first appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions, or he can deprioritize enforcement and reduce penalties, as President Joe Biden has done, pardoning thousands of people convicted of marijuana possession under federal law.
In states like New Mexico that have legalized recreational marijuana use, tribes are active in the marijuana industry, cultivating, operating, and investing in businesses. New Mexico not only changed its state laws, but also entered into compacts that allow tribes in the state to comply with the laws despite federal restrictions.
A change in U.S. government administration could hurt these businesses. In Piculis Pueblo, for example, federal agents raided a marijuana grow operation supported by tribal leaders in 2017. Now, with the support of the New Mexico state government, Piculis, a remote community high in the Rocky Mountains, is operating a cannabis business in the state capital, Santa Fe.
The Lac Cote Oreilles Band will not ally with Rep. Derrick Van Alden (R-Wis.) in changing federal law.
Alden, who represents the 3rd District just north of Lac Court, also represents the Ho-Chunk Nation, which decriminalized marijuana arrests this year.
“I don't support legalizing recreational marijuana,” Van Alden said in an interview at the party's convention on Tuesday. “Medical marijuana should never have been legalized. That's the same across the board.”
Van Alden said he won't be advocating for legalization in Congress, but he won't interfere with or attack the sovereign laws of the Ho-Chunk or other tribes as long as they comply with U.S. laws and policies. He said he wants to study the issue further, along with gaining a better understanding of the relationship between Native Americans and the U.S. government.
“If the Ho-Chunk people want to do one thing and it's in agreement, then we're OK with it,” Van Alden said. “I'm an American citizen, so if the Ho-Chunk people are doing this as a sovereign nation, then I don't know where the constitutional line is.”
This story begins: Corenic Broadcasting, ICT News and State Newsroom Coverage of the 2024 Republican National Convention with a focus on Native Americans.
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