Pine Ridge Indian Reservation: Where Alcohol is Outlawed, But Weed is Legal
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Source: NBC News
By Emily Jiannetto
Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota is a long-standing Indian reservation established in 1889, and not long after its establishment, alcohol has been illegal. Now, since 2020, the Oglala Sioux Tribemarijuana is recreationally legal. The view of marijuana at Pine Ridge is very positive, with many residents viewing it as medicine, and visiting the dispensary, not to get high, but to manage their various mental or physical illnesses (Zionts).
Pine Ridge, like all reservations across the country, has been facing a health crisis for decades. The average life expectancy is only 64.5 years in Oglala Lakota County (that encapsulated Pine Ridge), which is about 15 years lower than the national average (Zionts). Diabetes, cancer, and mental illness are rampant, and although alcohol is illegal on the reservation, alcoholism is rampant (Zionts). Alcohol is seen as destructive, but marijuana is seen as a beacon of hope, for anxiety, cancer pain, and numerous other ailments.
Happy
22 %
Sad
22 %
Excited
11 %
Sleepy
11 %
Angry
11 %
Surprise
22 %
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