Case Study: United States vs. Mr. White Plume
Written By: David Cook
In 1998, the Oglala Sioux tribe legalized hemp cultivation on their tribal lands and separately identified marijuana harvested for psychoactivity and Cannabis Sativa harvested for industrial hemp purposes. Mr. Alexander White Plume saw this as a beneficial crop to grow on the marginal lands of South Dakota. In the spring of 2000, he planted his first crop using seed harvested from ditch weed; cannabis plants that had survived as a weed since WWII era hemp farming ceased. Before Mr. White Plume could harvest, he was raided and had his crop seized by the DEA under their powers vested in the Controlled and Dangerous Substance act of 1970.
Mr. White Plume fought this and still grew hemp, causing his crops to continually be raided. It wasn’t until the third crop was raided and destroyed that charges and a one time injunction were filed against Mr. White Plume. It was this injunction that can be seen as a metaphor for the hemp industry. Once shrouded in ambiguity in 2016, this injunction was lifted as a result of the changing environment around the injunction. District Judge Jeff Viken wrote: “What is material to the court’s analysis is the shifting national focus on industrial hemp as a viable agricultural crop and the decision of the Attorney General of the United States to engage in a dialogue with the various tribes on the relationship between the CSA [Controlled Substance Act] and the Agricultural Act of 2014.”, going on to state that researchers and commercial farmers are already growing industrial hemp.
It was the changing national sentiment that made that difference for Mr. White Plume’s legal battle, as he was fighting for native sovereignty and rights throughout his legal injustices. Though he was never charged criminally, his civil cases drained him financially and this legislation was a victory for Mr. Plume and ultimately, for the hemp industry. Although it was a significant symbolic victory, no sort of remedy to Mr. White Plume has been made.
References
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, vs. ALEXANDER "ALEX" WHITE PLUME
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