Oglala Sioux Tribe urged to lift alcohol sales ban on reservation

Friday, October 5, 2012  

The Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota might consider lifting its ban on alcohol on the reservation.

James Big Boy, the chairman of the tribe's Law and Order Committee, will submit a proposal for a referendum. He believes tribal members will vote to lift the ban.

“I think it’s time to legalize alcohol,” Big Boy told The New York Times. “It would reduce the risk of people going to border towns and endangering their lives, and we could use the money to build a family treatment center.”

The move comes after a federal judge dismissed the tribe's lawsuit over liquor sales in Whiteclay, Nebraska, a border town near the reservation.

Get the Story:
Tribe Considers Lifting Alcohol Ban in South Dakota (The New York Times 10/5)

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