WASHINGTON – A Navajo Nation probe of a controversial, Navajo-owned hemp operation has turned into a federal investigation into reports of marijuana production, interstate drug trafficking and violations of labor and child labor laws.
The FBI said Monday it had executed search warrants “in the area of Shiprock” in an operation that included nine federal agencies as well as state, tribal and local agencies from at least three states. It released few other details.
But the Navajo Nation Department of Justice said the search warrants targeted “suspected illegal marijuana farming” at the Navajo Gold hemp farming operation run by Dineh Benally, former president of the nation’s San Juan River Farm Board.
“Dineh Benally and his investors sought to take advantage of what they believed to be a jurisdictional gap on the Navajo Nation that would allow them to operate outside the law,” Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said in a statement Tuesday.
“They did not count on the diligence or effectiveness of the Navajo Nation Department of Justice to be able to enforce our own laws through our own courts,” Nez’s statement said.
On
Tuesday night, Arizonans joined four other states to pass some form of cannabis
legalization, when citizens voted in favor of the Smart and Safe Arizona Act, Prop
207, which legalized the use of marijuana for persons over the age of 21.
Citizens
of Arizona joined with voters in New Jersey, Montana and South Dakota to
approve measures legalizing recreational marijuana, while Mississippi approved
the use of medical marijuana for people with “debilitating conditions.”
Smart
and Safe passed, with nearly 60 percent voting in favor. As of Thursday, Nov.
5, the measure was leading In Maricopa County by nearly 360,000 votes and in
Pima County, it was leading by more than 120,000 votes.
“It
appears the vast majority of Arizonans and Americans admit the War on Drugs has
been a complete failure,” said Steve White, founder and CEO of Harvest
Enterprises, Inc., which supported the measure with nearly $1.5 million in
donations. “When you put a significant amount of time and money into the hands
of other people, it’s scary. I’m thankful that 60 percent of Arizonans made the
right choice.”
Once
the final votes are certified, marijuana possession for persons over the age of
21 will be legal, although the rules regulating commercial retail likely won’t
be in place before March and expungement of low-level marijuana-related
convictions will begin in July. A 16 percent excise tax will be imposed the
sale on recreational cannabis, which is expected to generate $250 million in
annual revenues to be dispersed for programs including enforcement, school
funding and administration of the program through the Arizona Department of Health
Services.
AZDHS,
or any successor agency to that department, will oversee the medical marijuana
program and has been given the task of writing policy within the guidelines of
the measure.
Under
the new law, individuals can grow up to six plants for personal use, with
severe penalties for anyone caught selling cannabis on the black market.
Municipalities
will also have control over whether there are recreational retail shops within their
jurisdictions, although they are not allowed to ban sales where a medical
marijuana dispensary exists.
On
Oct. 26, the Town of Sahuarita pre-emptively set restrictions in place, prohibiting
cannabis on public property—which is already part of the law—prohibiting
recreational retail sales with the exception of a “dual licensee” operating out
of a shared location, as well as banning future testing facilities that are
expected in response to a state testing mandate that started on Nov. 1, 2020.
Hana Meds is the sole dispensary in Sahuarita, so the restriction would allow that dispensary to open a recreational retail shop in the same location should it receive a dual license from the state in 2021.
With the election just days away, Cronkite News is taking a closer look at some of the measures on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Four years after Arizona voters rejected legalizing recreational marijuana, the issue is back, appearing on November’s ballot as Proposition 207.
Eleven states have legalized recreational marijuana. Arizona joins three others – Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota – with the question on the Nov. 3 ballot.
The Marijuana Legalization Initiative, also known as the Smart and Safe Arizona Act, would legally allow people 21 and older to possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana, although smoking it in public places and open spaces would be prohibited. Arizonans would be allowed to grow up to six plants in their personal residences, and anyone arrested for, charged with or convicted of less serious marijuana-related offenses would be allowed to petition to have their criminal records expunged beginning July 21, 2021. Those offenses include possession of 2.5 ounces of marijuana or less and possessing paraphernalia used to smoke marijuana.
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