Mississippi: Native tribe votes to legalize cannabis!

The Mississippi Band of the Choctaw Indians voted 55%-45% to potentially legalize cannabis for adults. The ballot question asked, "Do you support the Tribe developing legislation to decriminalize and regulate possession, production, and distribution of marijuana on Tribal lands?"

The Tribe's first step will be to perform a feasibility study on how cannabis could benefit the Tribe. From there, the newly-elected Tribal Council will decide if and how the Tribe will proceed in regards to cannabis policy and whether to develop the cannabis industry on Tribal lands. 

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians is the only federally recognized Native American tribe in Mississippi. It is a sovereign nation with more than 11,000 Tribal members, and more than 35,000 acres of fee to trust lands in Mississippi and Tennessee.

While the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians engaged in direct democracy, the Mississippi Legislature continued to block it. The legislature continues to violate the state constitution by failing to pass legislation to re-implement the ballot initiative after the previous process was found unconstitutional based on a technical issue. 

Native American tribes are increasingly engaging in the cannabis industry in both sovereign lands and individual states. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina passed similar legislation in 2023. The Tribe initially sold only to Native Americans and limited sales to medical cannabis. In 2024, they began to sell adult-use cannabis to anyone 21 years old or older. There are over 100 tribes across the nation currently participating in the cannabis (and hemp) industry.

This continues to open the possibilities for sovereign tribes to begin to cultivate, process, and sell cannabis in states that have, so far, been resistant to either medical or adult-use cannabis. With many tribes concerned about federal funding under the new administration in Washington D.C., cannabis can offer a new revenue stream in addition to creating well-paying jobs for Tribal members. 

If Southern states continue to prohibit adult-use cannabis, hopefully, more tribes will decide to meet the needs of cannabis consumers!