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Navigating the new patchwork of hemp laws

It’s a lingering question for Alex White Plume on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

Alex White Plume surveys his property on the Pine Ridge Reservation in preparation for planting his hemp crop.
Alex White Plume surveys his property on the Pine Ridge Reservation in preparation for planting his hemp crop.
Jim Kent for Marketplace

Now that hemp has been legalized by the federal government, farmers across the country are anxious to begin growing it. That includes members of tribal nations.

One Lakota man on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Alex White Plume, is especially happy about this. The question is: Can he leave the reservation boundaries with his crop if the adjacent state of South Dakota has ruled hemp illegal?

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