Legality of Qannabis
Turtle Island
Mexico
United States
Indigenous Community
In December 2014 the first federal protections for state regulated Qannabis programs was passed by congress; Prohibiting the Department of Justice interfering with state Qannabis programs. The program would eventually expand to include territories and the District of Columbia. The lawmakers working behind the expansion did not take into account that Indigenous Nations are sovereign nations not territories. The Obama Department of Justice issued the Cole Memo[1] instructing U.S. attorneys to not enforce federal law on state-regulated Qannabis programs. The department of Interior matched the Cole Memo with another memo, the Wilkinson Memo[2], extending federal protections to Indigenous Nations.[3]
Picuris Pueblo Nation In November of 2017 drug enforcement agents with the Bureau of Indian affairs entered the sovereign land of the Picuris Pueblo Nation and pulled up approximately twenty medical Qannabis plants. In December of 2021 agents would enter the sovereign land again pulling up nine medical Qannabis plants being grown at the home of a medical Qannabis patient.[4] The raids happened despite New Mexico legalizing medical Qannabis in 2007[5] and legalizing recreational use in 2021.[6]
Canada
Sources
- ↑ https://www.justice.gov/iso/opa/resources/3052013829132756857467.pdf
- ↑ https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/tribal/pages/attachments/2014/12/11/policystatementregardingmarijuanaissuesinindiancountry2.pdf
- ↑ https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/05/tribes-marijuana-laws-00022899
- ↑ https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/05/tribes-marijuana-laws-00022899
- ↑ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-marijuana-idUSN0239750120070403
- ↑ https://apnews.com/article/legislature-michelle-lujan-grisham-recreational-marijuana-legislation-marijuana-61021fb6047fccfa09b004b30acf172d