3/30/16

Injunction lifted for industrial cannabis on South Dakota reservation

For the record, I do not support widespread growing of hemp, especially on tribal lands: it is an invasive species capable of overgrowing native grasses.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Viken of South Dakota said there has been a "shifting legal landscape" since the 2004 order was filed against Alex White Plume, an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. That includes a change in hemp laws in the 2014 farm bill and legalization of marijuana in some states. The order does not resolve the ongoing question of whether cultivation of hemp on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, in southwestern South Dakota, should be legal. [Associated Press]
Hemp is a perennial and easily migrates into adjacent lands. Why anyone would want to buy genetically engineered seed from Monsanto or some other earth hater every year remains a mystery.
But there's a big problem: This green rush is, by and large, disproportionately shutting out black Americans as a result of racial disparities in the war on drugs, leaving many unable to participate in the legal pot market, from growing to selling. In other words, systemic racism and racially disparate policies, such as the war on drugs, have had such a grave impact on black communities that even attempts to reverse those policies have left black people behind. [excerpt, Vox]
In South Dakota, American Indians are disproportionately profiled and imprisoned leaving them unable to participate in the budding industry even as the Flandreau Santee Sioux and Oglala Lakota Nations plan their cannabis futures.

Heroin and meth use is spiking in South Dakota no doubt fueled by America's most dangerous gateway drug, commercial teevee.

Former Butte County State's Attorney Heather Plunkett received a suspended jail sentence, has to undergo periodic substance evaluations, will be on probation for a year and was ordered to pay $861 in fees and fines for exercising her cannabis rights in defiance of South Dakota law. She remains on the state payroll.

Plunkett previously pled guilty to one count of possession of cannabis less than 2 ounces, possession of paraphernalia and ingesting a substance other than alcohol. Her husband Ryan pled guilty to possession of cannabis and received a suspended jail sentence.

Shrouded in subterfuge their arrests are believed to be politically motivated. She was served a warrant and arrested by the state Division of Criminal Investigation, no less, for under two ounces and a couple of pipes.

Attorney General Marty Jackley owns property in Vale, not far from Newell where sovereign citizen Wendall Hiland, a candidate for governor accused of wrongdoing in a child abuse case Plunkett was investigating, lives.

Plunkett, a Republican who serves as county vice-chair elected by the central committee of Butte County GOP per the bylaws, was appointed State's Attorney in 2010 by outgoing Governor Mike Rounds.

Plunkett is the daughter of Mike Messmer, a principal in Meade County Republican politics. The connection with Rod Woodruff and the Buffalo Chip remains a mystery.

Using a conservative estimate the number of problem drinkers in the legal profession is more than double that of the general population.

Butte County is a hotbed of anti-government foment stirred into action by Cliven Bundy sympathizer state Senator Betty Olson. A pipe bomb was found on a highway east of Belle Fourche in 2012.

If anyone has additional information about this case and wishes to remain anonymous please contact lawrence dot kurtz at yahoo dot com.

By a 6-2 decision the Supreme Court of the United States has decided not to hear a case brought by Republican attorneys general in Oklahoma and Nebraska about Colorado's sovereignty to legalize cannabis.
Legal gurus closely following state-level marijuana reforms have been also closely following the lawsuit brought directly to the Supreme Court way back in December 2014 by Nebraska and Oklahoma complaining about how Colorado reformed its state marijuana laws. Today, via this order list, the Supreme Court finally officially denied the "motion for leave to file a bill of complaint" by Nebraska and Oklahoma against Colorado. This is huge news for state marijuana reform efforts, but not really all that surprising.
Read it here.

 Resolution in this case opens the door for American Indian nations trapped in red states like South Dakota to resume grow/ops for casual enjoyment by adults.

Let’s ensure that cannabis cultivation and distribution stay out of the hands of Big Dope. It’s time to enter compacts with the tribes, let them distribute on the rez, on off-reservation properties and in Deadwood.

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