Nebraska’s Omaha Tribe Enforces Cannabis Reform
While Nebraska’s state authorities have lost precious time trying to regulate medicinal cannabis, members of the Omaha tribe have been effective and efficient. Cannabis is becoming fully legal on the territories of the federally recognized Omaha Tribe in the northeast of Nebraska.
The Omaha Tribe of Nebraska Endorses New Cannabis Regulatory Code
The Omaha Tribe is one of six federally recognized tribes in the state of Nebraska; its leaders wrote history earlier this month by adopting the cannabis control code ‘Title 51,’ which seeks to legalize both medicinal and recreational use of cannabis on the native reservation.
Centered in Thurston County, the Omaha Tribe’s government seat is in Macy, Neb. The reservation is a home of approximately 4,500 residents, according to the 2020 U.S. Census. The cannabis regulatory code adopted by tribe leaders will enable medical access for qualifying patients, as well as permit adult-use of cannabis. It will make tribe members eligible for business ownership and partnerships. Money from the new marketplace will be redirected for health care, education and infrastructure.
Who Will Have Access to Omaha Tribe’s Legal Cannabis?
As mentioned in news reports, the tribe will use its sovereignty to sell cannabis. All Nebraskans of legal age above 21 will be able to make purchases in a regulated retail setting. The plan to offer and sell cannabis to non-tribal members will test the strict state regulatory system of Nebraska, where authorities have been reluctant to implement medicinal cannabis even though the issue was passed on the ballot.
While Nebraska’s state medical program has faced numerous obstructions from lawmakers, tribe members decided not to wait any longer, and to implement their own clear rules for licensed and well-regulated cannabis marketplace that will be fully overseen by the authority of the tribal Cannabis Regulatory Commission.
Omaha Tribal Attorney General John Cartier described Title 51 as “the most comprehensive and forward-looking cannabis code in the region, that is rooted in our traditions and designed for our future.”
“The Omaha Tribe is not waiting on broken systems to deliver,” Mr. Cartier said in a press release. “We are asserting our sovereign right to govern, protect our community, and build a sustainable economy that reflects our values,” he added.
“More and more, we see citizens and communities taking marijuana-related matters into their own hands when their elected officials are either unwilling to do so or are unresponsive to what their constituents demand,” NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said in a statement.
“Legalizing and regulating cannabis access is a policy issue that is supported by most of the public. Lawmakers who continue to either ignore or undermine this issue can expect to be met with pushback from the public, particularly at the ballot box,” Armentano said.
The Omaha tribe’s move to advance cannabis laws on its sovereign territories means it is now joining a small number of other Tribes nationwide where legalization has been implemented regardless of state-level restrictions. A recent example is the Cherokee tribe in South Carolina, which launched legal cannabis sales last year despite lack of state-wide legalization.
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Stephen Andrews
