MILWAUKEE — A leader with the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa said lifting federal prohibitions on marijuana would allow for the sovereign nation to enter the billion-dollar industry sweeping the country.
Cannabis in all forms — except for CBD products — is illegal in Wisconsin. Bordering states Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois all allow recreational sales. This locks Lac Courte Oreilles out of the market, said Bill Trepanier, the tribe’s secretary and treasurer.
“The states surrounding us, they all have gone legal, and there’s a lot of tax money leaving the state, and we’re just wondering why the state of Wisconsin is not really making a move here,” he said.
Trepanier joined radio news show Native America Calling on Monday during the Republican National Convention in Wisconsin to discuss what his tribe would like to see the U.S. government achieve for tribal nations across the country.
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Cannabis legislation is a sovereignty issue, he said. And until Wisconsin lawmakers act on reform, all 11 tribal governments in the state will be restricted from creating marijuana businesses as other tribes in the country have.
“We got about 80,000 acres on our reservation,” Trepanier said. “We’re always trying to grow our land base. We have a lot of forests and lakes and streams here. It’s a very beautiful place.”
Until federal law changes, the U.S. president can direct his administration to either harshly prosecute marijuana infractions — as President Donald Trump did with his first attorney general appointment Jeff Sessions. Or he could deprioritize enforcement and lessen penalties, as is the policy under President Joe Biden, who also pardoned thousands of people convicted of marijuana possession under federal law.
In states that have legalized the recreational use of marijuana like New Mexico, tribes are active in the industry — growing, operating and investing in businesses. New Mexico not only changed state law but set agreements that allow tribes in the state to follow that law, despite the federal restrictions.
An administration change in the U.S. government could harm these businesses. For instance, on the Picuris Pueblo, federal agents raided a marijuana grow in 2017 that was supported by tribal leaders there. Now, with support from the New Mexico government, Picuris, a remote community high in the Rocky Mountains, has cannabis businesses in Santa Fe, the state capital.
Lac Courte Oreilles Band will not have an ally in altering federal law with U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wisconsin).
Orden serves the 3rd District just north of the Lac Courte, though he does represent the Ho-Chunk Nation, which decriminalized marijuana arrests this year.
“I do not support the legalization of recreational marijuana,” Van Orden said during an interview at the convention Tuesday. “Medical marijuana never should have been made legal ever. That is across the board.”
While Van Orden won’t advocate for legalization in Congress, he also said he won’t interfere with or attack sovereign laws if the Ho-Chunk, or any tribe, are in line with U.S. laws and policies. It’s something he would want to study more, he said, along with better understanding Native relations with the U.S. government.
“If the Ho-Chunks want to do one thing, and it’s in alignment, we’re good,” Van Orden said. “I’m an American citizen. So, if the Ho-Chunk are doing this as a sovereign nation, you know, I don’t know where the constitutional line is there.”
