SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A federal raid on a small household marijuana garden on tribal land in northern New Mexico is sowing confusion and resentment about U.S. drug enforcement priorities on Native American lands, as more states roll out legal marketplaces for recreational pot.
Bureau of Indian Affairs officers confiscated nine cannabis plants from a medical marijuana patient at Picuris Pueblo, where tribal officials are contemplating a cannabis business venture. The BIA patrols the pueblo and says it can’t tell officers to stand down, even amid state legalization of home grown pot and retail sales.
New Mexico legalized recreational, home-grown marijuana this year.