Ho-Chunk Nation votes to change marijuana rules on tribal lands

MADISON — The Ho-Chunk Nation has voted to change the rules on using marijuana on its tribal lands.

Ho-Chunk announced Saturday that its General Council voted to reverse a policy that made the use and sale of marijuana on tribal lands illegal. Sixty-three percent of members voted in favor, 34 percent voted against and 3 percent abstained.

The vote comes about a month after members of the Menominee Indian Tribe endorsed possible legalization of marijuana for medicinal and recreational use on their northeastern Wisconsin reservation.

Officials say the Ho-Chunk decision does not make the use and sale of marijuana legal yet on their tribal lands. Attorneys will be researching the implications of changing the ban.

Last year the Justice Department announced it would let Indian tribes legalize and regulate marijuana.