I wrote this article in my newspaper that is printed in Pocatello Idaho, the date was;
In this article I illustrate some of the legal changes in cannabis laws relating to US Native American tribes. I also give my warning and decipher for others what I believe this means for US tribes and for US cannabis laws.
The Clovis Star 2015 Winter-Spring Edition
”
The Department of Justice issued a
memorandum on October 28th, 2014
that declares Native American, or
“Indian” nations can decide on their own
cannabis polices. However, some of the
lingo in this memorandum leaves more
questions than answers. It appears that
the feds will allow NA lands to choose
their own laws and polices, even so
much as to cite these lands and areas as
being “sovereign.” Then it slips in a
backhanded comment to make it seem
that the Department of Justice does not
know what the word “sovereign”
means. In one paragraph the memo
completely contradicts itself:
“Nothing in the Cole Memorandum
alters the authority or the jurisdiction of
the United States to enforce federal law
in Indian Country” It then goes on to
say: “The eight priorities in the Cole
Memorandum will guide United States
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. ”
The U.S. government has a bad record
keeping agreements with sovereign
nations.
In recent years, the Department of
Justice seemingly reversed it’s
policy on cannabis when they
released the infamous “Ogden
Memo” and shortly after told legal
medical marijuana businesses that
they would back off. However,
despite that, the DOJ then
promptly reversed their policy and
proceeded to issue over 600%
more indictments than the
previous administration in 2 years.
A warning to the wise: In the
history of prohibition of one thing
or another, the government has
special interests that guide their
decisions via lobbying money.
Prohibition has always shown
negative fruits, as we saw after the
18th amendment was passed in
1919. After over 13 years of
massive government corruption,
street wars, and the flourishing of
the black market, the 21st
Amendment was passed to repeal
the 18th amendment. Cannabis,
however, has never gone through
the constitutional process of
creating prohibition. Unlike the
18th Amendment that prohibited
alcohol, there is no such
amendment authorizing cannabis
prohibition.
It is known that cannabis is part of
ancient religious ceremonies from
many religions, including the Bible
based religions. Exodus 30:23
defines an ingredient found in
modern editions of the Bible as
“Fragrant Cane” or “Fragrant
Incense” from the anointing oil of
Moses. However, many Torah
scholars, like Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
in his book “The Living Torah,”
define this ingredient as the
הֵנְק םֶׂ -שֹב “Bosm Kaneh “Hebrew
which means cannabis, hemp, or
marijuana. In other words, cannabis
is protected by the 1st
Amendment. www.goo.gl/lpVsJN “