rewrite this title and make it good for SEOTribal cannabis showdown brewing in Nebraska

Nebraska residents won’t be able to purchase cannabis on a tribal reservation that’s setting up regulated legal sales, Gov. Jim Pillen said Thursday.

That prompted the Omaha Tribe to fire back and inform Pillen he has no authority, an exchange that sets the stage for a showdown amid a slow rollout of medical marijuana in the state.

During a tense news conference Thursday, both Pillen and state Attorney General Mike Hilgers threw cold water on the idea that the Omaha Tribe might allow state residents to obtain cannabis on tribal land.

“There’s not going to be Nebraskans going into the Omaha Tribe and buying, uh, recreational marijuana,” Pillen said, according to WOWT-6.

“We’ll take whatever steps it is to keep … that from happening.”

Hilger went further.

“Anyone who tries to go to the tribe — the tribal lands — to buy marijuana for any purpose does so at their own peril, and I would highly discourage them from doing that,” he said.

In a statement to WOWT, the tribe emphasized that it’s referring only to MMJ, which is legal in state.

In any event, neither Pillen nor Hilgers has any say, the tribe added.

Nebraska governor has no authority over tribal cannabis, tribe says

“The Governor has now echoed the AG’s legally incorrect claim that it would be illegal for the Tribe to sell medical cannabis to non-tribal members under our own regulatory system,” the tribe said in a statement to WOWT.

The tribe added: “If the State continues to retaliate or attempts to block our lawful enterprise, we will defend our sovereignty through all available means.”

In its statement, the tribe also noted that because state law allows medical cannabis, the tribe can set up its own regulated, licensed MMJ system without state interference or involvement.

Nebraska tribal cannabis legalized amid slow legal MMJ rollout

Like many sovereign tribal governments around the country, the Omaha Tribe is entering the legal cannabis space – and doing so before states.

The tribe legalized cannabis for adults 21 and older in a July vote partially motivated by the “slow and uncertain rollout” of medical cannabis in Nebraska.

Voters legalized MMJ last November. But since then, the program has been slow-rolled by a combination of lawsuits and, according to advocates, interference from officials like Pillen and Hilgers.

For example, the state Medical Cannabis Commission recently reduced the number of plants a licensed MMJ cultivator is allowed to have to 1,250.

That was done to please Pillen, who refused to sign off on rules without stricter cultivation limits.