Late last year the Obama Administration issued a memo stating that the federal government would not intervene if a Native American tribe wanted to grow and sell marijuana on tribal lands. Some tribes quickly expressed that they would not be doing so, while others came out and stated that they would explore the idea. It appears that one tribe in California is going to officially start an operation. Per the Press Democrat:
A Ukiah Indian rancheria will soon be the site of what is likely California’s first tribe-sanctioned, large-scale indoor medical marijuana cultivation and distribution operation.
The 250-member Pinoleville Pomo Nation revealed Thursday it has entered into a contract with Colorado-based United Cannabis and Kansas-based FoxBarry Farms to grow thousands of marijuana plants on its 99-acre rancheria just north of Ukiah.
It’s the first of three such operations planned in California by United Cannabis and FoxBarry, a sign that marijuana cultivation is making headway in its voyage from being an illegal backwoods venture to a mainstream business. The locations of the other two have yet to be revealed.
Construction on a 2.5-acre indoor marijuana-growing facility will begin within a month and operations are expected to be underway in February, according to a spokesman for the tribe.
I’m curious to see how this works out for the tribe. The operation involves growing marijuana and selling it to dispensaries in California. Hopefully it results in a lot of revenue and jobs for the tribe, and that leads to more tribes following suit. There are few industries that can come in and help every tribe in America straight out the gate. Marijuana is of course one of those industries.
