Jackley, Flandreau tribal leaders discuss pot operation

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley and leaders of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe are discussing what to do about the tribe’s marijuana growing operation.

The meeting Tuesday in Pierre came just three days after the tribe burned its crop because federal officials warned about a potential raid of the operation.

Jackley says the tribe’s move to suspend its operation is in the “best interest of public health and safety.” He says he is still waiting for information he requested from the Justice Department in July regarding what he described as the federal agency’s “enforcement inconsistencies on marijuana.”

The prospect of pot on tribal land was made possible by a Justice Department decision in December. The tribe had sought to start selling marijuana on New Year’s Eve.