Politics
Mississippi Indian Tribe Approves Marijuana Referendum, Making It First Jurisdiction In The State Poised To Legalize
Members of an Indian tribe in Mississippi have approved a referendum to legalize marijuana within its territory.
About a month after holding a series of public hearings on the proposal, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians voted to enact the cannabis reform, 55 percent to 45 percent, according to unofficial results posted by the tribe on Tuesday evening.
The question that tribal members saw on the ballots read: “Do you support the Tribe developing legislation to decriminalize and regulate the possession, production, and distribution of marijuana on Tribal lands?” With its approval, this makes the tribe the only source of legal adult-use cannabis in Mississippi.
“This vote does not automatically authorize or legalize marijuana on Choctaw tribal trust land,” Chief Cyrus Ben said at one of the hearings, according to The Mississippi Free Press.
But now that the measure has been approved, the Tribal Council is poised to engage consultants to conduct a feasibility study of legalization, along with research on potential regulations.
This is one of the latest examples of increased interest among certain Native American communities to enact reform within their borders—despite federal prohibition and, in cases like Mississippi, state law.
More than a fourth of Indigenous communities in the continental United States are now involved with marijuana or hemp programs, according to a map recently published by the Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association (ICIA) in collaboration with the law firm Vicente.
In North Carolina, where cannabis remains illegal for medical and adult-use purposes, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians approved a legalization referendum in 2023, and sales began last year.
It’s drawn attention from congressional lawmakers, including Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who last month asked President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to investigate the legal implications of the policy.
In Montana, meanwhile, marijuana was legalized statewide through a ballot initiative in 2020, and the legislature recently passed a bill that would allow the governor to enter into compacts with Indian tribes to remove barriers to their participation in the industry.
A similar compact agreement system has been in place in Minnesota, where cannabis is also legal for adult use. Last month, Gov. Tim Walz (D) signed the state’s first cannabis compact with the White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
It’s believed that in 2020, the Oglala Sioux Tribe, located in South Dakota, became the first tribe to vote to legalize marijuana within a U.S. state where the plant remained illegal.
In Wisconsin, indigenous leaders have worked together to craft a campaign called Wisconsin Wellness, which last year held an event at the state Capitol in favor of legalizing medical marijuana.
Back in Mississippi, medical cannabis was legalized in 2022, but marijuana remains prohibited for adult use.
Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.
