3/29/16

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]
Feral 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.

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.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

In my lifelong zeal to make everything hemp, I had not taken into account the biosphere disruption that could be caused by out of control feral hemp; so thank you for the growth moment from youthful idealism of a cause, to reality based practical application of a cause if you wind up winning the cause.

The hemp in the case in question has done a good job surviving on it's own for 16 years, but it hasn't left the original area by much; birds consume the lions share of the seed.

I don't see reservations growing serious acreage of hemp insomuch as white SD farmers might, because they are more financially and equipment prepared to do so, if the market looked profitable to them. Purdon eventually wants to run for Gov in ND, so he got the cap feather he was looking for so that he can help his contemporaries in ND advance their hemp cause. So as far as environmental degradation caused by industrial hemp farming, I believe we will se it in ND first because they have the means to get to the punch first.

larry kurtz said...

Thank you for your observation. Your comment describes my own view.