Menominee tribe vote results expected on marijuana proposal

Members of the Menominee Indian Tribe have voted in favor of allowing both recreational and medicinal use of marijuana on their northeastern Wisconsin reservation.

Fifty-eight percent want to allow recreational use, while 77 percent voted in favor of legalizing it for medicinal purposes.

Tribal chair Gary Besaw says tribal leaders will now decide how to proceed.

According to the tribe’s website, exploring the idea of legalizing and selling marijuana is part of its continued efforts to find different ways to diversity the tribe’s economy, create jobs and increase revenue to fund needed services.

The tribe conducted a referendum vote Wednesday and Thursday, and the results were announced Friday.

Just last month two California tribes were raided by federal and state authorities who said they seized at least 12,000 marijuana plants and more than 100 pounds of processed marijuana.

It’s something a handful of tribes across the country are considering after the U.S. Department of Justice released a memo back in December.

FOX 6 reports about 13 percent of Menominee Tribe members voted this week.

The Menominee is the only Wisconsin tribe exclusively responsible for enforcing its own laws. The State has no criminal jurisdiction over the Menominee Reservation and we will continue to monitor this issue going forward. Still, Besaw said, it could be worthwhile to begin growing and selling weed.

■ What to do with the money generated from marijuana sales since federally insured banks generally shun accepting marijuana money for fear of violating federal money laundering laws.