CSKT SAYS MEDICAL MARIJUANA ILLEGAL FOR INDIANS ON FLATHEAD RESERVATION

PABLO - Medical marijuana providers on the Flathead Indian Reservation
who sell to Indians can be charged with felony distribution of the
drug, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes announced Wednesday.

CSKT spokesman Rob McDonald said that, after consulting with elders
from the Salish, Kootenai and Pend d'Oreille peoples, the Tribal
Council opted to retain their policy that makes the possession or sale
of marijuana a criminal offense.

"The result was a consensus from the elders that marijuana has no
cultural significance," McDonald said, "and that we, as a people, have
other indigenous means to deal with pain."

As a sovereign Indian nation, the tribes have the option of adopting
or not adopting state laws, and so while the state has legalized
medical marijuana, the tribes have not.

That could potentially affect nontribal members should they provide
marijuana to tribal members or federally recognized Indians, CSKT
officials have been informed. The tribes said Lake County Attorney
Mitch Young told them it means if a provider on the reservation
supplies medical marijuana to a tribal member that person will be
subject to felony distribution charges.

The announcement does not affect nontribal medical marijuana consumers
on the reservation, or medical marijuana providers located off the
reservation. The tribes have jurisdiction over tribal members and
recognized Indians from other reservations located within the
boundaries of the Flathead Reservation.

So, while it remains a criminal offense for any tribal member to
possess marijuana on the reservation, it also becomes a criminal
offense for anyone to sell it to them there, according to Young. The
county attorney cautions providers located on the reservation to ask
about tribal affiliation before supplying anyone with medical marijuana.

"Like other area governments, CSKT officials have wrestled with the
complex issue," McDonald explained in a written release.

"After much discussion, CSKT does not embrace a system where medical
marijuana can be provided by non-medical staffs who have obtained a
provider license."

The release went on to say local law enforcement has come across too
many instances where medical marijuana consumers are either convicted
felons, or under investigation for drug use and sales.

Other medical marijuana consumers, it added, have been found to have
convictions for the manufacture of methamphetamines, prescription drug
violations and drug distribution convictions in other states.