Pubdate: Thu, 04 Jun 2015
Source: Ukiah Daily Journal, The (CA)
Copyright: 2015 The Ukiah Daily Journal
Contact: http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/feedback
Website: http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/581
Author: Carole Brodsky

TRIBE, SHERIFF DISAGREE ON MARIJUANA PROJECT

"There are ninety nine things we agree on, and just one thing we 
disagree about."

So states Mike Canales, President of the Business Board of the 
Pinoleville Pomo Nation, referring to a meeting he had today with 
Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman regarding the number of marijuana 
plants the tribe can legally place on their sovereign lands.

Heads have been turning and phones have been ringing all weekend, as 
casual passers-by, cannabis farmers and concerned citizens attempted 
to discern what they were seeing on a two-acre parcel visible from US 
101, just north of Ukiah.

Those in the know identified the pallets of soil, the circular fabric 
"pots" and the irrigation lines as a burgeoning cannabis growing 
operation. But what was to be a 200-plant project situated on tribal 
lands has now been curtailed to two contiguous "grows" situated on 
adjacent parcels-one consisting of 25 plants and one strategically 
containing 26 plants.

Why 26 plants? "Because the Sheriff told me this afternoon that if we 
grow one plant over the 25-plant-per-parcel limit, he would eradicate 
that plant," says Canales. And that, he continues, would initiate a 
chain of events that Canales states would violate rights of tribal 
sovereignty, something that Canales is ready to test in federal court.

Tribal members, under the tutelage of local, professional cannabis 
farmers have been working around the clock preparing the site for the 
delivery of the already-growing marijuana plants, which, following 
the completion of their life cycle, will be turned into bio-medicinal 
capsules and sublingual medicines (generally tinctures), designed to 
treat specific medical conditions known to be responsive to cannabis therapies.

But in order to make medicine from marijuana, the tribe requires 
enough plants to create it. Canales feels the Sheriff is misguided in 
his concerns over the tribal cannabis operation. "We had a good 
meeting today. A cordial meeting-one of many over the past year or 
so. But the Sheriff feels he still has jurisdiction over this area. 
Our three attorneys do not agree," Canales continues.

The Sheriff is exercising his authority to limit the number of plants 
on the reservation based upon the county's 9.31 marijuana growing 
ordinance, which states that a maximum of 25 plants can be grown per 
parcel. Canales states that as a sovereign nation, the tribe is not 
subject to the conditions of the ordinance, and they are ready to 
take the difference of opinion to court.

"When we plant that 26th plant, we have been told by the Sheriff that 
he will eradicate. At that point, we will file an injunction. I 
encouraged the Sheriff to come on the land. There won't be any 
impediments to access. We feel that politically, the Sheriff doesn't 
understand the 1988 decree, which gives our tribe jurisdiction of our 
lands. We believe we're right, and they believe they're right. We're 
ready to go to Federal Court in San Francisco to talk about 
jurisdiction," says Canales.

Canales feels the impasse would be better resolved 
government-to-government. "We would like to go forward by working 
with the county's ad-hoc cannabis committee and the Board of 
Supervisors from here on. We're talking about conversations and 
agreements from one sovereign state to another sovereign state."

The garden site, clearly visible from Highway 101, is fed with well 
water located on tribal lands, powered by a solar pump. By planting 
the 26th plant at the site, the tribe is, in essence, calling the 
Sheriff's bluff. "This tosses the ball to county government. Are they 
going to be happy with the legal bill they are going to receive when, 
and not if, we win our case?" Canales smiles. A detailed, 47-page 
Tribal Medical Marijuana Ordinance has been provided to the Sheriff 
and County Counsel. Examples of other ordinances crafted between 
county governments and tribes have also been provided to the Sheriff. 
"From the memo we received from the District Attorney, which is 
public record, we were under the impression that 200 plants, if they 
were covered and protected from view, would be permissible and that 
the District Attorney would not be interested in pursuing gardens 
that met the other important compliance guidelines, which we do. The 
Sheriff stated today that if you can see the plants from the street, 
according to the 9.31 regulations, you can't grow there. We are 
putting fencing and protective visual barriers around the plants so 
they can't be seen. Everyone will still know what we're doing, but we 
are happy to comply with this request. But we planned our garden 
accordingly for 200 plants. Now, our hand has been forced."

The tribe has jurisdiction of their entire 99-acre Rancheria and an 
additional 30 acres held in trust. Now, with the growing season 
rapidly under way, the tribe is scrambling to find appropriate 
locations for the remaining 150 marijuana plants, which will now be 
planted on portions of their trust lands. "We will be planting on 
some of that land. It will be fenced and protected. I've told County 
Counsel that although we have the right to plant on parcels on Lovers 
Lane, we're not doing that. We've told the neighbors that we're not 
doing that," he continues.

"Some tribes are growing over ten times what we intend to grow. Yet 
they have forged agreements and ordinances between themselves and 
their local governments. This is a great deal of hassle and money for 
the county to spend to mitigate one plant-we're not growing 2,000 
plants, or a 40-acre parcel packed with cannabis plants," Canales continues.

Two organizations, the United Cannabis Corporation and the Foxbarry 
Companies are providing the expertise and the structure for what 
Canales believes is the first project of its kind in the nation- a 
tribal-run, medical-only cannabis operation.

"The United Cannabis Corporation is a publicly traded medical 
marijuana company that produces no recreational products whatsoever. 
They develop numerous cannabis therapies for patients that have 
various ailments. This project is all about the medicinal properties 
of cannabis."

For the tribe, the project is about improving the quality of life for 
members. "It's about providing economic opportunities for this tribe 
so we can do the things that any government wants to do-provide 
affordable housing, quality education and job security for its 
people," says Canales. He stresses, emphatically, that no 
recreational marijuana will be produced, sold or distributed. "All of 
these products are going to be turned into medicine. No bud is going 
onto the Mendocino black market-here or anywhere else," he continues. 
"No tribal member is allowed to grow cannabis at their place of 
residence. Our ordinance stipulates that the project is structured as 
a not-for-profit collective. We can hire consultants, purchase 
materials and the like, but no tribal member will receive direct 
profits from the project," he continues. Canales says that in the 
past week, the project has spent over $300,000 locally on soil, 
staffing, irrigation equipment and all the other necessities to 
establish a garden of this size.

If the suit goes forward and the tribe wins, Canales expects that not 
all the fallout will be positive. "Unlike our tribe, some will react 
to the fear mongering by growing as many plants as they want, without 
consulting or working with their local governments or their 
neighbors. There are other tribes that are growing cannabis, and 
they're all going to join this lawsuit. I believe that this action 
puts everyone who is growing cannabis at risk today. I'd be really 
concerned if I were growing 25 plants right now and had a couple 
extras on hand in case some of the plants end up being males."

"There are very disreputable people growing thousands and thousands 
of plants all over this county, and they're picking on Pinoleville? A 
poor tribe with 200 plants? If I were the county, I'd be spending my 
meager resources looking for people polluting watersheds and growing 
2,000 plants. Our tribe is going forward to exercise our sovereign 
rights on our trust lands. We do not intend to be singled out," 
Canales concludes.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom