A U.S. Department of Justice memorandum released last week opens the window for federally recognized tribes to grow and sell marijuana on tribal lands, raising a long debated issue among local tribes that work to suppress large-scale grows because of environmental damage and criminal activity. The memorandum prompted Hoopa Valley tribal member and former tribal chairman Clifford Lyle Marshall, Sr., to file a petition to repeal the Hoopa tribe’s law that prohibits marijuana cultivation on the reservation.
A U.S. Department of Justice memorandum released last week opens the window for federally recognized tribes to grow and sell marijuana on tribal lands, raising a long debated issue among local tribes that work to suppress large-scale grows because of environmental damage and criminal activity. The memorandum prompted Hoopa Valley tribal member and former tribal chairman Clifford Lyle Marshall, Sr., to file a petition to repeal the Hoopa tribe’s law that prohibits marijuana cultivation on the reservation.