Indian Nations Protest Pot Raids
The U.S. Attorney’s Office recently raided medical marijuana programs of two tribal authorities in Northern California, which according a press release from the Leaders of Alturas Rancheria, is completely legal. Needless to say, the Tribal Authorities are quite upset about the event. The operations were owned by the Alturas Indian Rancheria and the Pit River Tribe.
Tribes are said to have reached out to local law enforcement agencies to make sure that they were in compliance with local and state laws governing marijuana growth and sales, yet there was still a raid on July 8th at tribal lands growing marijuana in Modoc County.
Tribal chairman Phillip Del Rosa explained:
“The Tribe laid everything out for the local authorities to consider. We told local officials that ‘if some aspect of the project concerns you, let us know and we will work with you to address your concerns.”
It seems the DEA’s aging ‘war on drugs’ hasn’t stopped its illegal actions.
According to recent FBI Uniform Crime Reports, we arrest more than 872,000 Americans a year for marijuana offenses, and that number has climbed every year for the past five years. Is it any wonder the DEA would target Indian Nations?
Related: Cannabis Plants Pop Up Around Germany as Form of Protest
Officers from both the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as well as the Drug Enforcement Administration, participated in the raids.
According to the Sacramento Bee, the feds had been prompted to act by an Alturas tribal member.
Wendy Del Rosa wrote assistant U.S. attorney Philip Ferrari in a letter dated May 27:
“The tribe is acting as a beard for private operators who are attempting to use the medical marijuana law of this state and tribal sovereignty for massive personal profit.”
Tribal leaders responded to these allegations by saying that Wendy Del Rosa, who happens to be the sister of Alturas Rancheria chairman Phillip Del Rosa, is an ex-employee of the tribe who fired her in 2014.
American Indian tribes are free to grow and sell pot, as long as they follow federal laws.
god leave them alone haven’t we done enough damage? and nobody should have guns pointed at them over a plant.