Leaders of the Flandreau Santee Sioux tribe are legalizing marijuana on the reservation. The executive board has approved the ordinance after examining how other areas handle legalized marijuana. Members are planning for an operation that grows marijuana for medicinal and recreational use.
The Flandreau Santee Sioux executive board is making marijuana a tribal business. President Tony Reider says leaders are working to create a secure environment to cultivate the crop.
“Our plan is to have a grow facility on the reservation that will create 10-12 jobs, and then we’re going to have a facility that will be used for consumption and sale of marijuana,” Reider says. “We’re only going to sell in amounts of a gram or less as to prevent people from taking marijuana out of the facility and leaving the reservation with it. Consumption will only be allowed and legalized within the boundary of that facility as well.”
Reider says people who are 21 years of age or older with an I-D can purchase marijuana. If a doctor has prescribed medical marijuana, anyone can use the drug. Reider says the tribe has potential to generate revenue to support its people.
“We’ve needed a treatment facility on the reservation for several years – not just for marijuana. We’re looking for prescription meds and other drugs, as well as alcohol and tobacco,” Reider says. “And we’ve got housing needs and several different needs that we’re hoping to take care of by taking advantage of this economic opportunity.”
The tribal president says the facility will welcome both Native Americans and people who are not tribal members. Reider says the Flandreau Santee Sioux’s marijuana facilities should have product for sale by the end of the year.
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley says marijuana remains illegal on non-tribal soil, so anyone possessing it or under the influence off the reservation is violating the law.