Minnesota weed prosecution bows to tribal law

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Court of Appeals found a lower court improperly denied a criminal defendant’s motion to dismiss his cannabis possession charge. Because Minnesota has decriminalized the possession of cannabis and authorized tribal compacts allowing tribal governments to regulate cannabis, it does not have jurisdiction to prosecute an enrolled member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe for possession on his own reservation under a regulatory statute.