Brandon Ecoffey

A note from the editor’s desk
By Brandon Ecoffey
Lakota Country Times Editor
www.lakotacountrytimes.com

After more than two-years of encouraging the Oglala Sioux Tribe to pass legislation to legalize marijuana there has finally been movement within tribal government to do so. Late last month, OST’s law and order committee passed a motion that could lead to an advisory vote amongst the people on the issue.

I have never tried to hide the fact that I am an advocate for the legalization of marijuana. The fact of the matter is that the people of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation deserve a functioning economy. After roughly a hundred years of failed federal policies poverty on the reservation is a constant as our working class is being forced to move off reservation in search of work. Something radical has to occur and as a tribal-nation that may require the flexing of our inherent and prehistoric sovereign rights.

The state of South Dakota, through Attorney General Marty Jackley, has made it abundantly clear that the state would not allow for tribes to sell the product to non-Indians. How the state plans on enforcing that mandate on lands that fall under federal and tribal jurisdiction has yet to be answered.

The problem that exists is the Obama administration has clearly outlined what its role and priorities are in regards to tribal-nations choosing to exercise their right to define the legality of marijuana within their sovereign borders. States can do all the posturing they want but without the green light from the feds there will be no raids by state law enforcement on Pine Ridge.

In 2014, the Department of Justice, in response to the requests of tribes for guidance on marijuana legalization, produced a memorandum that detailed their position on the issue. The memorandum listed 8 priorities that included preventing distribution to minors; revenue from marijuana profits being directed to criminal enterprises; the diversion of marijuana from states where it is legal under state law; violence associated with cultivation; increases in drugged driving and the exasperation of adverse public health effects; the growing of marijuana on public lands; and marijuana possession and use on federal property. No where in the memorandum does it say prevention of sales to non-Natives.

The memo also states “The eight priorities in the Cole Memorandum will guide the United State’s Attorneys’ marijuana enforcement efforts in Indian Country including in the event that sovereign Indian Nations seek to legalize the cultivation or use of marijuana in Indian Country.”

US Attorneys were further directed to deal with tribal nations on a “government to government” basis. Interestingly Gov. Dennis Daugaard referred to the sovereign rights of tribes just a couple weeks ago when he was rolling out his plan for Medicaid expansion. Do the rights of tribal-nations truly exist in the eyes of the governor? If so, wouldn’t it seem that he would ask Jackley to stand down?

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What the state of South Dakota truly fears about marijuana legalization is the impact that it will have on its communities that have based their economies in for-profit incarceration schemes and the petty extortion of individuals who are caught either using or under the influence of marijuana. Without a steady supply of non-violent offenders there would be no point in employing all these prison guards and court officers

For us as tribal citizens the benefits of marijuana legalization are more than economical. May people fear that the ease of access to marijuana will increase, and subsequently endanger young people. This is a legitimate concern but when one considers the fact that right now any teenager can drive in any neighborhood in Pine Ridge and buy a twenty-sack one realizes the futility of prohibition.

Instead one must consider the regulatory impact of legalization and how that plays out at the street level. If legalized those under the age of 18 would no longer be able to purchase the drug without proof of age as street level marijuana dealers would be pushed out of the game as profit margins dwindle. This is a positive development for everybody.

Not everybody has to like marijuana, but what has been proven is that legalization is not the boogeyman it has been made out to be.

(Brandon Ecoffey is the editor of LCT and an award winning journalist who was born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He can be reached at editor@lakotacountrytimes.com)

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