Apsáalooke Nation will test cannabis sovereignty

In June, 2020 the Montana Democratic Party endorsed legal cannabis, New Approach Montana and its allied advocates spent some $2.3 million imprinting the state's two initiatives in voters' minds and got their measures legalizing cannabis on the state's November ballot. Montanans then approved two measures allowing adults over 21 to possess an ounce of cannabis and own four plants. Changes in statutes also allow people serving jail terms to apply for re-sentencing or an expungement of a conviction. 

The statute went into effect in January but if the law enforcement industry has its way Montanans won't be able buy cannabis at a retail outlet until at least October because it says the state already has a drunk driving epidemic. 43% of all traffic deaths in Montana involve alcohol, the highest in the nation. Studies on impaired driving due to cannabis are mixed: Colorado has shown a slight increase in traffic fatalities linked to cannabis but Washington State has not.

Today, Montana's Republican-glutted legislature is making sausage of Initiative 190, the ballot measure 57% of voters passed to legalize cannabis and Democrats want to amend the bills to align more closely with voters' wishes. White Republicans fleeing cultural diversity in California and Oregon have inundated much of Montana bringing their conservative closed-mindedness and the commitment to environmental degradation with them. The new Republican governor is from New Jersey and the state's Trump-worshiping lone congress member is from Maryland.

So, despite Republicans messing with the wills of voters the Apsáalooke Nation will wean itself from coal and move forward on building a cannabis industry.

The Crow Nation Legislative Branch approved the Crow Cannabis Ordinance on April 16. All sales of marijuana and cannabis-infused products will be sold through the Crow Tribal government, according to the legislation, with every sale taxed at 7%. Thor Hoyte, legal counsel for the Crow Tribe, said both the Chairman and other tribal leaders have been in conversation with the Governor’s Office of Indian Affairs. Although the tribe is paralleling the state, both the chairman and Hoyte said it is operating as a sovereign nation without any need for permission from state authorities. As to possible interference on the part of federal law enforcement, Hoyte said the benefits far outweighed the risks. [Billings Gazette]

In March, the city council in nearby Hardin unanimously denied the application for a therapeutic cannabis dispensary. 

Learn more at the Helena Independent Record.