II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1984 

To prevent Indian tribes and tribal organizations that cultivate, manufacture, 

or distribute marijuana on Indian land from receiving Federal funds. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 5, 2015 

Mr. LANKFORD introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

To prevent Indian tribes and tribal organizations that cultivate, manufacture, or distribute marijuana on Indian 

land from receiving Federal funds. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Keeping out Illegal 

5 Drugs Act of 2015’’ or ‘‘KIDs Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the fiduciary responsibility of the United 

9 States to Indians includes protecting future generaVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:49 Aug 12, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1984.IS S1984

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1 tions of Indians from the harmful effects of illegal 

2 drugs; 

3 (2) testimony at numerous congressional hear4 ings has established that rampant drug abuse on In5 dian lands has had an especially destructive impact 

6 on the lives and families of all Native Americans, in7 cluding Native Americans who do not use drugs; 

8 (3) the report entitled ‘‘Rates of Substance Use 

9 of American Indian Students in 8th, 10th, and 12th 

10 Grades Living on or Near Reservations: Update, 

11 2009–2012’’, published by Public Health Reports 

12 with funds from the National Institute on Drug 

13 Abuse of the National Institutes of Health, indicates 

14 that 56.2 percent of eighth grade Native American 

15 children and 61.4 percent of tenth grade Native 

16 American children who attend school on Indian 

17 lands had used marijuana, as compared to the na18 tional average of 16.4 percent and 33.4 percent, re19 spectively; 

20 (4) according to the Office of Juvenile Justice 

21 and Delinquency Prevention, individuals who begin 

22 using an illegal drug at a young age are far more 

23 likely than individuals who do not begin using an il24 legal drug at a young age— 

25 (A) to use other drugs; 


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1 (B) to be incarcerated; and 

2 (C) to have a lower quality of life; 

3 (5) according to the Substance Abuse and Men4 tal Health Services Administration, American Indi5 ans and Alaska Natives experience some of the high6 est rates of substance use, as compared to other ra7 cial and ethnic groups in the United States; 

8 (6) the National Institutes of Health have 

9 shown that marijuana use— 

10 (A) may cause permanent developmental 

11 damage to the brain; and 

12 (B) is linked to poor educational outcomes; 

13 (7) the higher incidence of illegal drug use in 

14 Indian country, as compared to the rest of the 

15 United States, has directly contributed to higher lev16 els of poverty and crime and a lower life expectancy 

17 in Indian country; 

18 (8) according to the Substance Abuse and Men19 tal Health Services Administration, in 2010, Amer20 ican Indians and Alaska Natives had a 17.1 percent 

21 rate of drug-induced death, the highest rate among 

22 other racial and ethnic groups in the United States; 

23 (9) according to the Centers for Disease Con24 trol and Prevention report entitled ‘‘CDC Health 

25 Disparities and Inequalities Report–United States, 


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1 2013’’, from 1999–2010, American Indians and 

2 Alaska Natives aged between 30 and 40 years expe3 rienced the highest drug-induced death rate, as com4 pared to other racial and ethnic groups in the 

5 United States; and 

6 (10) Federal law already prohibits the produc7 tion, cultivation, manufacture, and distribution of 

8 marijuana. 

9 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

11 (1) INDIAN LANDS.—The term ‘‘Indian lands’’ 

12 has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the 

13 Native American Business Development, Trade Pro14 motion, and Tourism Act of 2000 (25 U.S.C. 4302). 

15 (2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

16 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

17 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

18 Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 

19 (3) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘tribal 

20 organization’’ has the meaning given the term in 

21 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu22 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 

23 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION. 

24 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, it is un25 lawful for an Indian tribe or a tribal organization— 


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1 (1) to knowingly or intentionally cultivate, man2 ufacture, or distribute marijuana on Indian lands; 

3 (2) to knowingly or intentionally allow the cul4 tivation, manufacture, or distribution of marijuana 

5 on Indian lands; or 

6 (3) on discovery by the Indian tribe or tribal or7 ganization that an individual or entity on Indian 

8 lands subject to the jurisdiction of the Indian tribe 

9 or tribal organization is cultivating, manufacturing, 

10 or distributing marijuana on Indian lands— 

11 (A) as applicable, to fail to prosecute, or 

12 notify the appropriate Federal official regarding 

13 that individual or entity; and 

14 (B) to fail to destroy the relevant mari15 juana crop in accordance with applicable Fed16 eral law. 

17 SEC. 5. PENALTY. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—No funds authorized or appro19 priated by Federal law shall be made available for any 

20 purpose to an Indian tribe or a tribal organization if the 

21 Indian tribe or tribal organization is determined to have 

22 violated section 4 during the period— 

23 (1) beginning on the date on which the Indian 

24 tribe or tribal organization violates section 4; and 


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1 (2) ending on the date on which the Indian 

2 tribe or tribal organization has remedied the viola3 tion and achieved compliance with this Act, as deter4 mined by the Attorney General of the United States. 

5 (b) RETURN OF FUNDS REQUIRED.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—An Indian tribe or tribal or7 ganization in violation of section 4 shall return to 

8 the relevant Federal agency any funds received dur9 ing a period in which the Indian tribe or tribal orga10 nization is in violation of this Act. 

11 (2) NO RETURN OF REFUNDED FUNDS.—Funds 

12 returned to a Federal agency under paragraph (1) 

13 shall not be returned to the Indian tribe or tribal or14 ganization upon compliance with this Act. 

Æ 


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