Pubdate: Fri, 27 Feb 2015 Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA) Copyright: 2015 Hearst Communications Inc. Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1 Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388 MARIJUANA HAS SWEET SMELL OF PROFIT FOR INDIAN TRIBES WASHINGTON (MCCLATCHY NEWS SERVICES) - After making hundreds of billions of dollars running casinos, American Indian tribes are getting a good whiff of another potential moneymaker: marijuana. The first Tribal Marijuana Conference is set for Friday on the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Washington state as Indian Country gets ready to capitalize on the nation's expanding pot industry. Organizers said representatives from more than 50 tribes in at least 20 states have registered, with total attendance expected to surpass 300. The gathering comes after the Obama administration said late last year that it would not interfere with any federally recognized tribes that want to grow and sell pot on reservation lands - if they do a good job policing themselves. The tribes would join the District of Columbia and four states - Washington, Colorado, Oregon and Alaska - where voters already have approved marijuana for recreational use. Robert Odawi Porter, one of the conference organizers and the former president of the Seneca Nation of Indians in New York, said tribes have "a tremendous economic diversification opportunity to consider" with marijuana commerce. He said the event would bring together "trailblazers" in the industry who will help tribal leaders understand the complex issues involved. While it's unknown how many tribes ultimately will seek to take advantage of the change, one analyst warned that any tribe expecting to hit the jackpot might be in for a surprise, particularly as the supply of legal pot in the U.S. increases. "People keep forgetting, it's a competitive market," said Mark Kleiman, a professor of public policy at UCLA, who served as Washington state's top pot consultant. "And it's cheap to grow." Marijuana is a divisive issue among tribes, with many tribal officials worried about high rates of drug addiction among American Indians. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom