Pubdate: Sun, 27 Oct 2013
Source: Yakima Herald-Republic (WA)
Copyright: 2013 Yakima Herald-Republic
Contact:  http://www.yakima-herald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/511
Author: Kate Prengaman

YAKAMA NATION SAYS IT WON'T RECOGNIZE STATE'S NEW POT LAW

As Washington state moves forward on rolling out recreational 
marijuana regulations, the Yakama Nation has decided not to join in 
legalization efforts.

Marijuana remains illegal on the 1.2 million-acre reservation, said 
George Colby, an attorney representing the Yakama Nation. Under the 
tribe's treaty, he said, the citizens of Washington lack the 
authority to legalize recreational use on tribal lands.

"We want to put out public information for those that want to grow, 
sell and distribute that they are not welcome on Yakama Nation 
lands," Colby said last week.

The Washington State Liquor Control Board, the group charged with 
designing the state's new regulations, took the tribe's 
recommendation and added a rule that requires notifying the tribal 
government if anyone applies for a permit on tribal land. If the 
tribal government then submits an objection, the board can deny the permit.

Brian Smith, a spokesman for the Liquor Control Board said that while 
the state rules don't specifically prohibit issuing permits on the 
Yakama reservation, the reservation lands are subject to federal 
jurisdiction, and marijuana remains illegal under federal laws.

"Why grant a license when the federal government is going to come in 
and take them down?" Smith said.

In a letter published on seattlepi.com last week, Tribal Council 
Chairman Harry Smiskin praised Yakama law enforcement efforts to shut 
down marijuana grow operations on the reservation.

Smiskin wrote that the tribal government will continue to call in 
federal law enforcement on marijuana operations, if necessary.

"We do not want our people, or anyone else, to use, grow or sell 
marijuana on our lands," Smiskin wrote. "We have had a long and 
unpleasant history with marijuana - just as we have had with alcohol. 
We fight them both on our lands."

Moves by the tribal government a decade ago to enforce a 150-year-old 
alcohol ban on the reservation have been complicated by the fact that 
most of the property in the cities of Toppenish and Wapato are deeded 
land owned by nontribal members, including proprietors of bars and stores.

In that case, a federal court judge said that the Yakamas' ban would 
probably not be enforceable in cities on the reservation.

This time, Colby said, the state was receptive to the Yakamas' 
concerns and worked to include the tribal land exemption in the new 
marijuana regulations that would apply across the entire reservation, 
including the incorporated towns.

"If somebody wants to apply for licenses in the city of Wapato, 
Toppenish or Harrah, they are going to have to apply for permission 
from the tribal government," Colby said.

Smith said the Yakama Nation has made it clear to the Liquor Control 
Board that it has no interest in anyone receiving permits for 
marijuana operations on reservation land.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom