The flag of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

The Department of Justice is releasing a new policy regarding marijuana in Indian Country.

Growing, possessing or selling marijuana remains a crime under federal law. But the new policy will give federal prosecutors discretion to allow such activities on a case-by-case basis.

"The tribes have the sovereign right to set the code on their reservations," Timothy Purdon, the U.S. Attorney for North Dakota and the chairman of the Attorney General's Subcommittee on Native American Issues, told The Los Angeles Times.

The policy will presumably benefit the Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota. The tribe allows hemp to be cultivated on the reservation but drug enforcement agents have repeatedly destroyed crops even though the plant does not offer the same characteristics as marijuana, a close relative.

Get the Story:
U.S. won't stop Native Americans from growing, selling pot on their lands (The Los Angeles Times 12/11)