HEMP ORDINANCE PASSES AT PINE RIDGE

After two years of work by Slim Butte Land-Use Association president Loretta
Cook and Slim Butte's Agricultural director and Plenty board member Tom
Cook, Pine Ridge reservation is one step closer towards the cultivation of
industrial hemp.

After bringing the issue to the attention of the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council
(as reported in the summer '98 Plenty Bulletin), in late July the Council
voted 8-4 to amend the tribe's penal code to make a clear distinction
between industrial hemp and marijuana.

This sets the stage for industrial hemp to be grown as an income producing
crop for Land-Use association members at Pine Ridge. This is an important
opportunity, as unemployment is extremely high at Pine Ridge, which is
located in the poorest county in the U.S.

The issue is also a key test of the right of tribal sovereignty. The vote
took place despite a letter to the Council from the Drug Enforcement Agency
(DEA), which maintains that the cultivation of industrial hemp would violate
federal law. Stay tuned as this story unfolds.

Excerpts of the Ordinance read:

"WHEREAS the Oglala Sioux Tribe recognizes that industriaI hemp is a safe
and profitable commodity in the international marketplace and is grown in
more than thirty countries including Canada, France, England, Russia, China,
Germany & Australia, and; WHEREAS treaties signed between the Oglala Sioux
Tribe and the US government acknowledge that the tribe retains the right to
grow food and fiber crops from the soil, and; WHEREAS the Oglala Sioux Tribe
recognizes that industrial hemp was a viable and profitable crop grown in
the Pine Ridge region when the treaties were entered between the US and the
Oglala Sioux Tribe, and; WHEREAS the Oglala Sioux Tribe seeks to develop
sustainable, land-based, economic opportunities for tribal members, and;
WHEREAS international treaties and trade agreements including the 1961
Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) specifically
classify industrial hemp as a commodity that is separate and distinct from
any narcotic; THEREFORE BE IT ORDAINED, that the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council
does hereby expressly reserve and retain jurisdiction to enact legislation
relating to industrial hemp agriculture..." (END)

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P.O. Box 394 Summertown, TN 38483 Ph/Fax (931) 964-4864 E-mail:
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Checked-by: Don Beck