Scott Williams swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
Members of the Menominee Indian Tribe are splitting sharply over the tribe’s latest money-making idea: legalizing and selling marijuana.
The tribe is holding a referendum next week on whether to legalize marijuana usage for medical and recreational purposes on the 350-square-mile reservation.
The proposal comes on the heels of the impoverished tribe’s unsuccessful effort to open a new gambling casino in Kenosha, which Gov. Scott Walker rejected after hearing opposition from other native American tribes with casinos.
Some Menominee Indians like the idea of going into the marijuana business as an alternative way of pumping new life into the tribe’s economy.
Noting that only criminals profit for keeping marijuana illegal, tribal member Deb Bowman said: “We should be able to get our money off that revenue. That should be shared with everybody.”
Others are apprehensive about the possible ill effects of permitting widespread pot smoking among the reservation’s 4,000 adults and children.
Tribal member Lucy Walker said that while she supports legalization for medical use, she fears that recreational smoking will make pot too accessible and potentially harmful for kids.
“I’m totally against it,” she said. “I think it’ll be more trouble than it’s worth.”
Tribal members over age 18 will be casting ballots next Wednesday and Thursday on two questions: whether marijuana should be legalized for medical use and whether it should be legalized for recreational use by anyone age 21 or older. Voting will take place between 9:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. both days at two polling places on the reservation.
Tribal members who live off the reservation can cast absentee ballots.
Although the referendum is advisory only, results expected to be announced by Friday will guide the tribe’s nine-member governing board in its deliberations on whether to pursue marijuana growing and selling as a new business venture.
Tribal Chairman Gary Besaw will not say whether he supports or opposes the referendum, but he is urging tribal members to consider the marijuana issue and make their feelings known at the ballot box.
“I really want to hear from our people,” he said.
The marijuana proposal comes nine months after the Menominee tribe suffered defeat in its bid to open a new casino in Kenosha, near the Illinois state line. By some estimates, the new casino would have generated more than $100 million a year in revenue for the tribe.
Besaw said the idea of legalizing marijuana grew out of relaxed laws in Colorado and elsewhere, as well as the tribe’s ongoing need for new revenue to fund programs in health care, education, law enforcement and more. Referring to the casino defeat, he said, “The denial meant we still have to keep looking for revenue.”
A Native American tribe in South Dakota already is pursuing the marijuana business and may help to answer such questions as whether the customer base can legally include the general public or whether it must be limited to tribal members.
Besaw said next week’s referendum results will serve as a basis for discussing whether to pursue such a business venture in Wisconsin and how to structure it. The first question to answer, he said, is whether tribal members support it — a proposition that he acknowledged is generating varied opinions.
“It’s a mixed bag,” he said. “That’s why we’re having the referendum.”
Tribal member Bryce Corn said he supports the referendum, even though he opposes drug use and would never consider smoking pot himself. Keeping marijuana illegal, he said, has resulted in too many unhealthy byproducts, such as dangerous synthetic pot substitutes.
Corn said he would vote to legalize marijuana on the reservation.
“Let people do what they want,” he said. “It’s their choice.”
Tribal member Peggy Miller said she has mixed feelings on the issue. While she strongly opposes recreational drug use, she also understands the tribe’s need to expand its economy.
Miller has not yet made up her mind which way to vote.
“If it’s going to help the community, I’m in favor of that,” she said. “I’m really thinking hard on this.”