GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – A lawsuit filed by the Menominee Indian Tribe concerning a hemp growing operation has gone up in smoke.
A federal judge has dismissed the lawsuit in which the tribe wanted the operation declared legal.
- Click here to read the decision.
Tribal officials sued the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and Department of Justice last November. That’s after a raid in October destroyed the hemp being grown on tribal land.
The tribe said it was growing hemp for research purposes. However, the DEA reported it confiscated 30,000 high-grade marijuana plants.
The difference between marijuana and industrial hemp is THC level. Industrial hemp has a lower THC level, preventing anyone from getting a high from it. It’s used in things like clothes and building materials.
Part of the tribe’s argument was that Congress allows states to grow hemp for research but the judge rejected that interpretation of the law.
“The Court denies the for declaratory relief to the effect that “State” as used in the hemp statute includes Indian tribes, and rejects the Tribe’s theory that it acted as a “State” when it enacted its own law allowing hemp cultivation,” wrote Judge William Griesbach.
The tribe also argued it is exempt from the state’s ban on growing hemp. But the judge rejected that, too.
“Wisconsin law does not allow the growing of hemp. While Wisconsin law is not enforceable on the Menominee Reservation, that does not change the fact that the growing or cultivating of industrial hemp is not allowed under the laws of the State of Wisconsin. Because the Tribe is located in the State of Wisconsin, the hemp exception to the Controlled Substances Act does not apply to the Tribe. And having concluded that the exception does not apply in any event, it is not necessary to address the issue of whether the College of Menominee Nation is an “institution of higher education” under 5940,” he added.
