Tribes to test legal marijuana market

Many Washington businesses are finding their way in the world of legalized marijuana sales, and a few enterprising Native American tribes will soon join the economic niche.

The signing of the first marijuana-tax compact by the Suquamish tribe and the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board was the first of its kind across the country, according to board spokesman Brian Smith. Gov. Jay Inslee formally signed the agreement Tuesday after a unanimous vote by the regulatory agency.

The 10-year Suquamish agreement requires the Kitsap-based tribe to collect the 37 percent state tax and sales taxes on marijuana, which Washington legalized with an initiative in 2012.

The tribe will keep the tax and is required to spend it for government services. Audits — carried out by firms hired by the tribes and shared with the state — would confirm the proper use of proceeds.

The Squaxin Island tribe west of Olympia is expected to sign a similar pact soon. The tax compacts have exemptions for the sales to tribal members. Still unknown is whether tribes will choose to grow their own pot and sell it tax free, which the compacts would allow.

A law approved by the Legislature this year set up a framework for the tribal-state marijuana compacts. The Obama administration last year opened the way for reservation sales when it said it would not interfere with federally recognized tribes that grow and sell weed on tribal lands, provided the activities were well-policed.

Smith, of the liquor and cannabis agency, said very few tribes have shown interest in marijuana sales. The Yakama tribe, for instance, maintains a prohibition and sought to ban marijuana cultivation or sales over all of its ancestral lands.

But this new frontier in state-tribal relations is not entirely unfamiliar ground. The enterprising Squaxin, for instance, were among the first to reach agreements with three governors on use of tribal-style electronic slot machines and collection of taxes on tobacco and gasoline sales since the 1990s.

This push for economic sovereignty has been a welcome part of a decadeslong effort to reclaim tribal culture that began in Washington with fights to respect treaty rights to fish, collect shellfish in Puget Sound and now collect taxes.

The proof is always in the end result. It may take years to know if this is a good option for tribes.

VANDALISM SETS BACK CAUSE OF OPD PROTESTS

Olympia police have been showing quite a bit of restraint during protests over the shooting of two black men by an officer in May.

But a tiny minority of supposedly anarchist protesters is not helping their cause. If excessive use of force is their complaint, they should refrain from using it themselves.

Some masked protesters used baseball bats to break windows at Olympia City Hall, causing about $7,000 damage, on Sept. 4. Just as outrageous were attacks that night on a man stopped in traffic who reportedly had Confederate flags on his motorcycle.

The Confederate flag is a provocation to many. But there is no excuse for putting pepper spray in the motorcycle rider’s face or hitting him with metal bats.

Olympia police are looking for two suspects in the beating who wore masks and were dressed in camouflage. They were described as white males, one about 6 foot 4, and they should be prosecuted.

This story was originally published September 20, 2015 at 7:59 AM with the headline "Tribes to test legal marijuana market."