GOP Congressman’s Bill Would Cut Federal Funding For States And Tribes That Legalize Marijuana

Legislation introduced on Friday by a North Carolina congressman seeks to slash a portion of federal funding to individual U.S. states as well as Native tribes that legalize marijuana.

The so-called Stop Pot Act, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC), would withhold 10 percent of federal highway funding to jurisdictions “in which the purchase or public possession of marijuana for recreational purposes is lawful.” Introduction of the bill comes less than a week before a tribe in Edwards’s home state votes on an adult-use marijuana legalization referendum.

Edwards argues that state and tribal laws allowing cannabis use by adults are an affront to U.S. law.

“The laws of any government should not infringe on the overall laws of our nation, and federal funds should not be awarded to jurisdictions that willfully ignore federal law,” he said in a press release. “During a time when our communities are seeing unprecedented crime, drug addiction, and mental illness, the Stop Pot Act will help prevent even greater access to drugs and ease the strain placed on our local law enforcement and mental health professionals who are already stretched thin.”

🚨 I just introduced the Stop Pot Act to uphold federal laws and protect WNC communities and our mountain way of life.

Read more about the bill below. #nc11#ncpolhttps://t.co/rLdr3rWSYc

— Congressman Chuck Edwards (@RepChuckEdwards) September 1, 2023

Edwards previewed the bill in an op-ed published last month in Cherokee One Feather, where he warned a tribe in his state, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), against adult-use legalization. EBCI members are set to vote Thursday on a referendum that would legalize marijuana for all adults 21 and older, regardless of tribal membership.

“I proudly consider the tribe my friends, and I respect their tribal sovereignty,” the congressman wrote. But to allow North Carolinians to buy cannabis on tribal land, he said, “would be irresponsible, and I intend to stop it.”

EBCI Principal Chief Richard Sneed has since described Edwards’s comments as “a major political blunder.”

Writing in Cherokee One Feather, Sneed said he believes Edwards “overstepped his authority,” noting that the congressman is “a non-Indian, elected official telling a sovereign tribal nation how they ought to handle their business.”

If it becomes law, however, Edwards’s bill, which is cosponsored by Rep. Gregory Murphy (R-NC), would target more than just Indigenous people in his home state. It would also mean a financial hit to states in which nearly half of all Americans live, not to mention tribes in other states that have already launched marijuana-related ventures.

Two organizations have endorsed the bill so far, according to Edwards’s press release: the prohibitionist group Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and the Christian Action League.

Kevin Sabet, SAM’s president and CEO, said in a statement released by Edwards’ office that “today’s marijuana isn’t Woodstock Weed,” referring to an outdoor music festival held 54 years ago. “It is a highly engineered drug that’s often wrapped in kid-friendly packaging, with potencies of up to 88 percent. The legalization movement has worsened America’s mental health and addiction crisis by preying on communities of color and young people.”

To be clear, no U.S. state where cannabis is legal allows products to be marketed to children. And despite some evidence that a small portion of people might experience psychosis associated with marijuana use, other recent research has indicated that psychosis symptoms may actually improve among people who use marijuana.

Read the full text of U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards’s Stop Pot Act of 2023 below:

Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis/Side Pocket Images.

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GOP Congressman Threatens Indian Tribe With Loss Of Federal Funding Over Marijuana Legalization

A Republican congressman from North Carolina is urging members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) to reject a referendum next month that would legalize marijuana on tribal land, warning that the move would mean a loss of federal funding under a bill he plans to introduce.

In an op-ed published last week in The Cherokee One Feather, Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) acknowledged that Congress cannot stop the EBCI referendum, set for September 7, from going forward. But he appealed to the tribe’s members to vote against it.

“I proudly consider the tribe my friends, and I respect their tribal sovereignty,” the freshman House member wrote. “But there are times when friends disagree, and I must do so regarding this question of legalizing recreational marijuana. The tribe’s rights should not infringe on the overall laws of our nation.”

Passage of the legalization referendum would bring legal cannabis sales within a short drive of many people in North Carolina, where both medical and adult-use marijuana remain illegal under state law. Sales on EBCI land under the proposal would be open to all adults 21 and older, regardless of tribal membership. And as Edwards noted, the tribe has land holdings “all over western North Carolina.”

“To allow our citizens to travel only a few miles to buy and use this common gateway drug,” wrote Edwards, who opposed cannabis reform in North Carolina during his time as a state senator, “would be irresponsible, and I intend to stop it.”

On September 7th, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will vote on whether to legalize recreational marijuana for sale and use on its tribal lands. 

Read my opinion on the EBCI’s referendum below. #nc11#ncpolhttps://t.co/N5a8AcVove

— Congressman Chuck Edwards (@RepEdwards) August 18, 2023

The lawmaker claimed legalization would lead to more impaired driving, “drug tourism,” the sale of hard drugs and unspecified “criminal activity that would inevitably follow.”

While the U.S. legally cannot block the tribe from passing its own laws around marijuana, Edwards threatened to cut federal funding from the tribe if legalization proceeds. He said he will “soon be introducing” legislation in Congress called the Stop Pot Act, which would “defund governments that ignore federal law.”

“It is important that the tribe understands they will be voting on a measure that, if enacted, could soon be very costly,” Edwards wrote. However he said he intends to pursue the Stop Pot Act regardless of whether the EBCI referendum passes.

Edwards’s office did not immediately respond to Marijuana Moment’s request for a copy of the forthcoming bill, but in theory, it would cut federal funding not only to EBCI but also to any other jurisdiction where cannabis is legal, including many U.S. states.

But as Edwards wrote, he believes those states “are thumbing their proverbial noses at federal laws that declare pot as a Schedule 1 substance… And Congress has sat idly by and watched it happen.”

EBCI, one of three federally recognized Cherokee groups, is a comparatively wealthy tribe, owning its land outright and earning sizable profits from gaming. However it also receives a significant amount of money from the U.S. government, for example $160 million under the American Rescue Plan in 2021.

The roughly 14,000-member tribe previously decriminalized marijuana possession in 2021 and began putting together a medical marijuana program. And despite delays getting that system off the ground, leaders of the tribe’s marijuana business said recently that they’ve already grown $25 million worth of product.

Part of the existing production plan involves transporting cannabis along a short stretch of state-owned roadway, which North Carolina officials say presents a problem.

“This is an issue that the tribe and local law enforcement need will need to work out,” state Attorney General Josh Stein (D) told local WLOS-TV.

Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran said that he has “had several conversations with the chief, tribal attorney and others about the transportation of cannabis.”

“I stated that until North Carolina changes the law, that it is still illegal to possess or transport marijuana on the highway,” he said.

Tribal governments in a number of U.S. states have entered the marijuana business as more jurisdictions continue to legalize. Notably, in Minnesota, where state lawmakers passed an adult-use marijuana program earlier this year, tribes are leading the way.

The White Earth Nation voted late last month to authorize marijuana sales and has since opened an adult-use cannabis shop. And the Red Lake Nation recently announced plans to launch a mobile marijuana retailer—effectively a cannabis “food truck” that can travel and do business on tribal land throughout the state.

Under Minnesota’s marijuana laws, the state’s governor can also enter into compacts with tribal governments, allowing them to operate on non-tribal land within the state. Many have seen that option as a way to allow the sale of legal cannabis in Minnesota ahead of state licensing, which isn’t expected until 2025. Cannabis regulators said last week that “several” tribes have expressed interest in the arrangement so far.

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