Marijuana Moment article raises some interesting points for discussion via this report in the Nebraska Examiner
The Omaha Tribe of Nebraska is moving ahead with legalizing marijuana, a move the tribe’s attorney general says Nebraska officials used to suspend negotiations on an unrelated state-Tribal tobacco tax compact.
The tribe called the move “direct retaliation.”
Omaha Tribe Attorney General John Cartier said an assistant attorney general for the state called him Monday, an hour before the first meeting of the tribe’s cannabis commission. Cartier learned state officials would no longer negotiate on a tobacco tax compact because of the tribe’s more permissive position on marijuana.
The Omaha Tribe Council unanimously voted in July to legalize medical cannabis and adult-use recreational marijuana. The initial focus of the tribe’s cannabis commission is “strictly” medical cannabis.
“It made me pause for about 30 seconds there, because I wasn’t really anticipating that level of obstruction,” Cartier told the Nebraska Examiner on Thursday. “I at least appreciated the candor and upfrontness about it.”
If a tobacco tax compact is greenlit, the state and tribe could split tax revenues from tobacco sales on the reservation. It could be a potential new windfall of hundreds of thousands of dollars for the tribe.
The Omaha Tribe reservation is in northeast Nebraska, more than 300 square miles, primarily in Thurston County and parts of neighboring Burt and Cuming Counties.
‘Direct retaliation’
In a follow-up conversation with Attorney General Mike Hilgers (R) this week, Cartier said Hilgers indicated his office would confirm the state’s official position and how Gov. Jim Pillen (R) wanted to proceed.
Pillen asked Hilgers this summer to negotiate the contract on behalf of the State of Nebraska. The AG’s Office declined to comment on compact negotiations. Pillen’s office did not respond this week to questions about the dispute.
Cartier said he anticipates no change because “none of them fundamentally believe in a cannabis industry.” He said the AG’s Office has also indicated it plans to spend additional tax dollars in support of more policing of the Omaha Tribe’s border, because of the new tribal law.
“If that is their official stance, in our opinion, that’s direct retaliation, potentially a legal way for them to skirt their responsibilities and to use this as leverage,” Cartier said.
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