Tildon Smart serves as chairman of the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe. Photo from National Museum of the American Indian Blog
The Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe is joining the marijuana industry. The tribe plans to start growing marijuana for medicinal uses as early as spring of 2016, Reno Public Radio reports. The facility could employ 10 to 20 people. The goal is "to bring our people out of poverty, to create the jobs that we can better our community," Chairman Tildon Smart told Reno Public Radio. "And the profits would be used for helping out with programs.” The tribe is based in Nevada, where medicinal marijuana is legal, and in Oregon, where recreational use is legal. The facility would focus on the Nevada side, Smart said. Marijuana otherwise remains illegal under federal law. The Department of Justice opened the door to legal marijuana in Indian Country with the 2014 Wilkinson memo but so far no tribe has successfully grown the drug, or even its innocuous cousin hemp, without being raided by state or federal authorities. Get the Story:
Nevada Tribe To Enter Medical Cannabis Industry (Reno Public Radio 10/28) Relevant Documents:
Department of Justice Policy Statement Regarding Marijuana Issues in Indian Country (October 2014)
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