WINDOW ROCK — Growing hemp on the Navajo Reservation has received a major endorsement.

The council's Public Safety Committee passed a resolution last week recommending that the Navajo Nation Council allow industrial hemp to be grown on the reservation, despite the fact that hemp is closely related to the marijuana plant.

Another resolution approved by the committee, however, shows its members aren't getting soft on drugs.

The second resolution recommends a "zero tolerance" approach to the possession of marijuana on the reservation and asks that the jail time be doubled to six months and the fine increased from $50 to $500.

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