I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5014 

To protect the legal production, purchase, and possession of marijuana by 

Indian tribes, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 20, 2016 

Mr. POCAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and 

Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To protect the legal production, purchase, and possession 

of marijuana by Indian tribes, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Tribal Marijuana Sov5 ereignty Act of 2016’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LEGAL PRODUCTION, PURCHASE, AND POSSESSION 

7 OF MARIJUANA BY INDIAN TRIBES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The fact that an Indian tribe, a 

9 member of an Indian tribe, or a tribal entity is legally aumstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS

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1 thorized to produce, purchase, or possess marijuana on 

2 lands held in fee by that Indian tribe, lands held in trust 

3 by the United States for the benefit of that Indian tribe, 

4 or lands conveyed to an Alaska Native Corporation pursu5 ant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 

6 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), shall not be considered when— 

7 (1) allocating or distributing Federal funds or 

8 other Federal benefits to the Indian tribe, a member 

9 of an Indian tribe, or the tribal entity; 

10 (2) determining the eligibility of the Indian 

11 tribe or the tribal entity for any contract, grant, or 

12 other agreement with the United States, or the re13 newal or modification thereof, where the legal pro14 duction, purchase, or possession of marijuana by the 

15 Indian tribe or a member of an Indian tribe would 

16 otherwise disqualify the Indian tribe from eligibility; 

17 (3) evaluating the ongoing compliance of the 

18 Indian tribe or the tribal entity with any contract, 

19 grant, or other agreement with the United States 

20 where the legal production, purchase, or possession 

21 of marijuana by the Indian tribe or a member of an 

22 Indian tribe would otherwise result in the Indian 

23 tribe or tribal entity being out of compliance; and 

24 (4) determining if the Indian tribe or a member 

25 of an Indian tribe is eligible for Federal benefits for 

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1 which the Indian tribe or a member of an Indian 

2 tribe would otherwise be eligible. 

3 (b) CLARIFICATION.—This section shall not prohibit 

4 consideration of income from the legal production, pur5 chase, or possession of marijuana to the same extent that 

6 the other legal income would be considered when allocating 

7 or distributing Federal funds or determining eligibility for 

8 Federal benefits. 

9 (c) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section: 

10 (1) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

11 means those entities described in section 4(e) of the 

12 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

13 Act of 1975 (25 U.S.C. 450b(e)). 

14 (2) TRIBAL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘tribal entity’’ 

15 means— 

16 (A) tribal organizations as defined in sec17 tions 4(l) of the Indian Self-Determination and 

18 Education Assistance Act of 1975 (25 U.S.C. 

19 450b(l)); 

20 (B) tribally designated housing entities as 

21 defined in section 4(22) of the Native American 

22 Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act 

23 of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4103(22)); or 

24 (C) Indian owned businesses and tribal en25 terprises as defined in sections 3(5) and 3(8) of 

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1 the Native American Business Development, 

2 Trade Promotion, and Tourism Act of 2000 (25 

3 U.S.C. 4302(5) and (8)). 

4 (3) LEGALLY AUTHORIZED.—The term ‘‘legally 

5 authorized’’ means permitted under the laws of— 

6 (A) the United States; 

7 (B) the State where the lands held in fee 

8 by an Indian tribe or held in trust by the 

9 United States for the benefit on behalf of that 

10 Indian tribe are located; or 

11 (C) an Indian tribe. 

12 SEC. 3. RECOMMENDATIONS OF IHS MEDICAL PROFES13 SIONALS REGARDING MARIJUANA. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi15 sion of law, IHS medical professionals are authorized to 

16 make medical recommendations to their patients with re17 gard to marijuana and to complete forms reflecting such 

18 recommendations. 

19 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 (1) The term ‘‘IHS medical professional’’ 

21 means a physician or other health professional fur22 nishing services through an Indian health program 

23 (as defined in section 108(a)(2) of the Indian Health 

24 Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1616a(a)(2))). 

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1 (2) The term ‘‘recommendations’’ does not in2 clude dispensing (as defined in section 102 of the 

3 Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)). 

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