Some reservation officials are eager to produce commercial products from plant related to marijuana.

By Angela K. Brown
Associated Press Writer

PINE RIDGE - Some members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe are moving forward with plans to cultivate hemp, even if they have to take the Drug Enforcement Administration to federal court.

Hemp has grown in the wild for decades on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, despite the DEA's repeated attempts - spraying and dousing with chemicals, setting fields on fire - to wipe it out. Growing hemp, which is a cousin to marijuana, is illegal.

The Land-Use Association, a group of tribal members in the small reservation town of Slim Bittes, wants to turn the tall hemp stalks into paper, mats, construction blocks for housing and other products. The group says the money-making venture would create jobs and homes in the impoverished area.

Milo Yellow Hair, the tribe's vice president, said the reservation has strugged with the issue for at least two years and finally decided to proceed with the hemp project after other economic development initiatives failed.

"Now we are left to tackle the so-called gray area initiatives," he said. "When they hear the word hemp, they think marijuana. Then they think drug use, and then they think police state. But that's not what what we want to do."

Hemp and marijuana are both varieties of the cannabis sativa plant, but hemp typically contains less than 1 percent of the narcotic chemical THC. Marijuana plants contain 10 percent to 20 percent THC, which makes pot smokers high.

Two weeks ago, the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council changed a tribal law to allow for making products out of hemp. The revised code says a plant with less than 1 percent of THC is considered industrial hemp and is legal.

But according to federal law, growing hemp - no matter how low its THC content - is the same as growing marijuana. And the same criminal penalties apply to people growing either plant.

Anyone who wants to grow hemp plants legally for industrial use must get permission from the DEA, said Karen Schreier, U.S. attorney for South Dakota. "The same rules apply on and off the reservation," she said.

Yellow Hair said the tribe will apply for a DEA certifiate of registration to grow the hemp, but the process is not that easy.

Schreier said she does not think the DEA has ever approved an application to grow hemp plants. Larry Johnson, resident agnt-in-charge of the DEA office in Sioux Falls, said the tribe's chances are not good.

"I seriously doubt that they will be able to meet the requirements," he said.

Tom Cook, who is in charge of the Land-Use Association's hemp project, said asking the DEA for permission would be a "useless endeavor." For now, the tribal group plans to proceed without breaking the law.

He said members can do that by touching only the hemp stalks, which do not contain THC, and by avoiding the leaves and seeds, which do contain the chemical. The stalks are the parts needed to make paper and other products.

Although federal law considers that action illegal, the land-use group is following the recently revised tribal law, Cook said. The only way to resolve the dispute between the federal and tribal laws is going to court, he said.

"At some point the tribe will be before a federal judge filing and injunction against the DEA," he said. The question is whether the tribe has sovereignty over its own land."

Cook said the 1868 treaty between the tribe and federal government allows the reservation to grow food and clothing for its members. Growing hemp is "an expressed intention" of that agreement, he said.

Yellow Hair said most reservation residents oppose illegal drugs and were hesitant when they first heard about the issue. But they now understand the differences between marijuana and hemp and have an open mind about the project, he said.

"It's a tough cookie to crack, no matter how you look at it," he said. (end)

INDIAN COUNTRY TODAY
Rapid City, South Dakota
August 14, 1998

By Karen L. Testerman
Today staff, Northern Plains Bureau

PINE RIDGE INDIAN RESERVATION, S. D. - The Ogala Sioux Tribe enacted historic legislation on industrial non-narcotic hemp despite the Drug Enforcement Administration's warning that cultivating it would violate federal law.

In a move toward self-determination and economic development, the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council passed an ordinance amending the tribe's penal code

relating to industrial hemp and marijuana on July 28, redefining the legal distinction between the plants. This move may provide the tribe and its members the opportunity to use industrial hemp as a viable and profitable crop. The Drug Enforcement Administration said it will prosecute anyone cultivating hemp in South Dakota without a valid DEA Certificate of Registration.

Industrial hemp and marijuana are amongst a large variety of the Cannabis sativa plant, which have varying amounts of the narcotic chemical tetrahydrocannabinol or THC.

The DEA contends that any cultivation of hemp falls into the category of marijuana cultivation, a schedule 1 controlled substance considered illegal.

The tribal council's amendment classifies the difference between illegal "marijuana" as having one percent or more concentration of THC by weight. The DEA' definition of marijuana doesn't provide exemptions for low or no THC plants.

At the request of Oglala Sioux Tribal President John Yellowbird Steele, U.S. Attorney Karen E. Schreier inquired about the official legal position of the DEA whether the cultivation of hemp on American Indian tribal lands is a violation of federal law.

DEA Acting Associate Chief Counsel Mary Kate Whaelen wrote that the Controlled Substances Act is applicable to activities conducted on American Indian land. "The manufacture of hemp constitutes the manufacture of marijuana, which can only be done legally if the idividuals who wish to cultivate marijuana for industrial use obtain a DEA Certificate of Registration."

OST Vice President Milo Yellow Hair said the vote reflects the interest the council has in supporting self-determination and the quest for jobs and industry on the reservation.

In response to the DEA's letter, Mr. Yellow Hair said, "The U.S. government confiscated the Black Hills because 'they needed it' for their economic expansion. It is really no different in this case. The language is the same. The reasoning is the same."

Spokesman for the Ordinance, Joe American Horse, told the council "Sovereignty over our own land and scientific language regarding the hemp plant are the issues involved."

Land-Use Association Attorney Thomas J. Ballanco, a West Point graduate said,"Asking the DEA for advice about industrial hemp is like asking Donald Trump for advice about Indian gaming issues."

For the last two years, the Land-Use Association, based in Slim Buttes, S.D., have spearheaded the hemp project by sponsoring and promoting the recognition of industrial hemp as an economical advancement for the tribe and its members.

Mr. American Horse, Oglala Lakota, said the vote to adopt the amendment sets the stage for land-based economic development on the reservation, but may also involve a legal challenge by the tribe in federal court.

The tribal council reinforced its position that treaties signed between the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the United States government acknowledge that the tribe retains the right to grow food and fiber crops.

In addition, the tribal council cited a paragraph of the Ordinance that international treaties and trade agreements including the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade specifically classify industrial hemp as a commodity that is separate and distinct from any narcotic.

Ironically, industrial hemp is already growing wild on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

"The mere fact that hemp is growing wild is an inescapable reminder that industrial hemp was once a cornerstone of agriculture in America," Mr. Ballanco said.

Supporters of industrial hemp cited a study by the Vermont state legislature that revealed in 1997 more than 99 percent of the "marijuana" located and destroyed by the DEA, at the cost of approximately $500 million, is actually industrial hemp that has extremely low levels of THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) and no psychoactive potential.

LUA Project Director Tom Cook, Mohawk, said now the Ordinance is in place, the association and the tribe will move foward within the legal realms of the law.

"We're concerned to proceed in a civil matter rather than a criminal matter." Mr. Cook said.

"Our interests are to preserve the natural resource that is growing right now on the reservation," Mr. Cook said. (end)