(a) Tribal Council seeks to enact an ordinance regulating and establishing penalties for controlled substance and nonmedical marijuana use, possession, distribution, and production within the Yurok Reservation for the purpose of protecting the Yurok Reservation and Tribal lands and the health, welfare, and safety of people and wildlife within the jurisdiction of the Yurok Tribe. Opioids have had a profoundly negative effect on Yurok families and citizens. The opioid epidemic has caused death, great personal trauma, and community trauma, and it has led to the destruction of property, impacted the environment, and burdened courts.

(b) Additionally, the Yurok Tribal Council seeks to provide clarification regarding the cultivation and the use of medical marijuana. Personal cultivation of medical marijuana is restricted to places of residence that have an assessor’s parcel number (or APN), and only residents of the Yurok Reservation are permitted to cultivate medical marijuana. [Ord. 82 § 4003, amended, 4/10/2023; Ord. 35 § 4003, adopted, 2/6/2014.]