Pubdate: Sat, 13 Dec 2014
Source: Tulsa World (OK)
Copyright: 2014 World Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.tulsaworld.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/463
Author: Cary Aspinwall
Page: A15

TRIBES MAY RECONSIDER POT LAWS

A Justice Department Memo Says New Policy Is Nonenforcement.

Despite a U.S. Department of Justice memo this week indicating Indian 
governments could grow and sell marijuana on tribal lands, officials 
said don't expect a thriving, legal pot industry anytime soon in Oklahoma.

Technically, marijuana is still an illegal drug under Oklahoma and federal law.

But a memo released this week by Justice Department officials said 
tribes could expect the same nonenforcement of certain aspects of 
federal drug laws on reservations and tribal lands as in states that 
have legalized pot.

"They're not saying it's legal, they're just saying we're not going 
to enforce it (in states that have legalized marijuana)," said Mark 
Woodward, spokesman for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and 
Dangerous Drugs. "But it sounds like there's still more 
interpretation and opinions that need to come."

Alex Weintz, a spokesman for Gov. Mary Fallin, said the memo "has no 
impact on the enforcement of drug laws in Oklahoma." A spokeswoman 
for Oklahoma's Northern District U.S. Attorney's Office said the memo 
wouldn't affect state law, including the state's ability to prosecute 
non-Indians on Indian land.

The Justice Department memo explaining this new tribal policy stems 
from what's commonly called the 2013 "Cole Memo," in which the 
Justice Department said federal agents wouldn't crack down on 
marijuana usage in states where it's legalized, provided the state 
has firm regulations and enforcement preventing its use by children, 
criminal cartels for profit and on federal property.

The "Cole Memo" states that U.S. attorneys reserve the right to 
prosecute for eight issues: sales to minors; marijuana proceeds going 
to criminal enterprises; shipping marijuana to states where it is 
illegal; illegal sales; firearms and violence; drugged driving and 
other public-health issues; growing marijuana on public lands; and 
possession of marijuana on federal property.

Osage Nation Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear said his nation's laws 
prohibit marijuana possession, sales and growth - and there are no 
plans to change that.

"I was just in Washington, D.C., last week in meetings with 566 
tribal leaders - and no one even mentioned it," Standing Bear said.

"I suspect that tribes are eventually going to look at it," he said.

In his view, decriminalizing possession on first offense could save 
tribes money and allow them to focus law enforcement resources 
elsewhere. But with his background as an attorney, he's cautious of 
any law that's still on the books - but being enforced selectively.

"It's dangerous when you can pick and choose how to enforce it," 
Standing Bear said. "What we should do is go back to the lawmakers 
and really address it."

Jay Ramey, a Tulsa criminal defense attorney and a board member for 
the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws, cautioned 
that the memo regarding tribal lands likely will apply more to states 
where marijuana is already legal.

Even if a tribe were to grow and sell marijuana on its land, 
customers who buy the drug could be arrested as soon as they leave 
the Indian nation and return to Oklahoma jurisdictions, he said.

"I don't think anything is going to change in Oklahoma. It's not law, 
it's policy," Ramey said. "I think if another administration comes in 
(after the next presidential election), they could change what they 
decide to enforce."

Woodward said so far, no tribes in Oklahoma have expressed an 
interest in growing or selling the drug.

"Most are saying: 'We've got enough problems with substance abuse - 
why open another door for it?'" Woodward said. "Certainly, we would 
be very concerned about it. We already see enough marijuana coming in 
illegally from Colorado."

Colorado legalized marijuana for recreational purposes in 2012. 
Police in Oklahoma frequently arrest people transporting marijuana 
from states where it's legal, Woodward said, including Colorado and California.

Oklahoma is still combating Mexican cartels growing the drug 
illegally here, so "certainly, we would not welcome any new avenues 
for anymore access here in our state," Woodward said.

"Even if they legalize it on tribal land, people don't stay on tribal 
land," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom