Pubdate: Mon, 17 Aug 2015 Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI) Copyright: 2015 Journal Sentinel Inc. Contact: http://www.jsonline.com/general/30627794.html Website: http://www.jsonline.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/265 Author: Cary Spivak MENOMINEE TO VOTE ON MARIJUANA Seeking Revenue, Tribe Weighs Legalizing Use Still burning from the January rejection of its long-sought Kenosha casino, leaders of the Menominee tribe will find out this week whether tribal members want to tap a new vice to help it find economic bliss - growing and selling marijuana. The approximately 9,000 members will vote Wednesday and Thursday in a two-question advisory referendum asking whether the Menominee should legalize marijuana on their reservation for medical and/or recreational use. If either question is approved, tribal legislators would begin the process of writing ordinances to legalize marijuana on the reservation, located near Shawano, said Gary Besaw, tribal chairman. The Menominee would become the third tribe in the state whose membership approved some form of marijuana legalization in a referendum. "We're very poor and do not have the luxury of turning our back on any potential revenue sources," said Besaw, who was a driving force in his tribe's bid to build an off-reservation casino in Kenosha. Gov. Scott Walker rejected the casino in February. "Because he denied the casino, the tribe still has need for a revenue source." The Menominee and tribes throughout the state and nation have been buzzing about the possibility of growing and selling marijuana since December, when the U.S. Department of Justice released a memo telling federal prosecutors not to prevent tribes from growing or selling pot on their reservations - even in states such as Wisconsin where it is illegal. In Wisconsin, the Menominee are seen as having the best opportunity to take advantage of the Justice Department position because they enjoy a legal status different from the state's other 10 tribes. The Menominee tribe - which had its tribal status restored in the early 1970s - is the only tribe in the state that is a non-Public Law 280 tribe. That means the federal government enforces the laws on its reservation. Local and state authorities have jurisdiction for crimes committed on the state's other reservations. "The Menominee is always the exception because we don't have any jurisdiction" on the reservation, state Attorney General Brad Schimel said Friday. Schimel said he has spoken to leaders of several tribal governments about the impact of the Justice Department memo. Schimel said he has provided tribal leaders with his interpretation of the memo and the law, though he has not told the tribes what to do. "These are sovereign nations and they have treaty rights," Schimel said. Still, he said, the memo does not mean that Wisconsin tribes can become weed dealers. "We haven't given the green light to anybody and it's not clear that we will give the green light to anybody," Schimel said. In fact, Schimel said, if any of the tribes where the state has law enforcement authority began growing or selling marijuana on their reservation, his reaction would be the same as if the illegal act occurred on non-Indian land. "We would work to shut it down," Schimel said. "We're not going to sit back and let it happen." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom