Alex White Plume (born 1952) is the former Vice-President and Tribal President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, located in South Dakota of the United States. He served as president from June 30, 2006-November 2006, after Cecilia Fire Thunder was impeached.
From 2000 to 2002, he earned unwanted publicity when United States federal drug agents raided his farm and destroyed his crop of industrial hemp before he could harvest it for seed as intended. They got a court order prohibiting him to grow the crop. Although the Oglala Sioux have sovereignty on their land and hemp does not have psychoactive properties, the agents operated under a 1968 federal anti-drug law prohibiting the cultivation of cannabis-related crops. By contrast, the sale of hemp products is allowed in the United States. Issues of tribal sovereignty on this issue are still at play, although the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the DEA action. They acknowledged that the DEA registration process could be a burden for farmers like White Plume.
Read more about Alex White Plume: Early Life and Education, Career, Political Career
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