Committee votes for medicinal marijuana
Medical marijuana sign. (Courtesy of Wikipedia.com)
WINDOW ROCK
Could the Navajo Nation benefit from cultivating medicinal marijuana? That’s what Dineh Benally, a former Navajo Nation vice president candidate, believes.
He went before the Health, Education and Human Services Committee Monday to present the health and economic benefits should the Navajo Nation grow cannabis.
“My mom, when she got pancreatic cancer, her last four months of her life she suffered,” he explained. “She didn’t have the medication to have a better part of life. So that’s why I started this crusade. I learned to believe that this medicine is a medicine.”
The bill (0213-17), sponsored by Council Delegate Lee Jack Jr., would amend Title 17 of the Navajo Nation Code, specifically section 391 that deals with possession of marijuana. The code states that there is zero tolerance of possession of marijuana. Anyone found guilty will spend no more than 365 days in jail or be ordered to pay a fine no more than $5,000.
But what Jack is aiming for with his amendment is make an exception to possession where it will be lawful for any business to cultivate and produce cannabis, or hemp, for economic, industrial, or scientific purposes. “The real purpose for this is economic development and industrial purposes,” said Jack. “This is just a start. The Nation has been looking for ways for economic development.”
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