Gov. Butch Otter told about 70 Idaho police chiefs on Wednesday that he would oppose efforts underway in the state legislature to pass a medical marijuana law.

Otter made the statement at the Annual Winter Meeting of the Idaho Chiefs of Police Association in Boise, according to a report from the governor's office.

The report says Otter indicated that while he is sympathetic to anyone suffering from chronic pain, he believes the dangers from passing such a law outweigh any possible benefits.

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BOISE - Medical marijuana legislation was introduced in the Idaho House today, where Rep. Tom Trail, R-Moscow, introduced HB 370 as a personal bill.

He proposed similar legislation last year; it got an informational hearing from the House Health & Welfare Committee, but didn't proceed. HB 370 would permit patients with debilitating medical conditions to be dispensed up to 2 ounces of marijuana every 28 days; they'd have to get it from state-authorized "alternative treatment centers."

The bill says, "Compassion dictates that a distinction be made between medical and nonmedical uses of marijuana. Hence, the purpose of this chapter is to protect from arrest, prosecution, property forfeiture, and criminal or other penalties those patients who use marijuana to alleviate suffering from debilitating medical conditions, as well as their physicians, primary care givers and those who are authorized to produce marijuana for medical purposes." Under the measure, only patients who'd registered with the state and received a registration card could legally possess medical marijuana.

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FILER - Administrators in the Filer School District are taking steps to educate students on the potential dangers of a herbal mixture commonly known as "spice" and sold locally under brand names like Hayze.

Filer High School Principal Leon Madsen informed school board members Wednesday that two incidents where the marijuana-like substance was used resulted in students being taken to the hospital.

"Hayze actually started showing up in the school a year ago last October," he said. "Since then, once in the school and once at a game, we've had to call an ambulance because kids have lost consciousness."

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We must turn away from panic and fear.

What a terrible notion that we would decide as a community to haul our youth into school and force them to urinate in a cup to test for substances that may or may not be causing them harm. The idea that further tightening the straightjacket around our kids will control their behavior and set them on the right course is patently false and rife with logical fallacy. Studies such as a 2003 University of Michigan "Monitoring the Future" survey have shown that there is little statistical difference between student drug use at schools where testing is conducted and those where it is not.

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I am disgusted and outraged that my property taxes are being used to support a school system that has student drug and alcohol problems.

The fact that the Blaine County Community Drug Coalition finds it necessary to propose a policy for mandatory student drug testing for the Blaine County School District is disappointing. Seemingly, the problem is rampant at Wood River High School, where 66 percent of students are using alcohol and marijuana regularly. With a community that has attempted to introduce the legalization of marijuana, what can you expect? And where are the parents in all of this? Any idiot can have children! It takes an intelligent and responsible parent to raise smart children who make good choices in life.

Jitka M. Sullivan

Ketchum

[end]

In an interview with Idaho Conservative Blogger, Gov. Butch Otter says he's consulted with governors in states permitting marijuana use, but doubts the Legislature will ever send him a bill.

If they did, he hinted he would veto the measure, calling pot a "gateway drug." Among Otter's major initiatives have been the Idaho Meth Project, a favorite cause of his wife, Lori. As a young lawmaker in the 1970s, Otter supported decriminalization, but his views have shifted.

Rep. Tom Trail, R-Moscow, has pushed for years to legalize industrial hemp, but gotten no traction in the Legislature.

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On a fall day in 2002, my childhood friend, Brendan Butler was left dead along a rural road in Kootenai County, strangled to death, and throat slit for good measure. It is still hard for me to envision Brendan as a drug dealer, because most of the images I have in my head of him are of snowball fights and sledding at his parents' home in Hayden, or debating the coolest cars and trucks with him. But I have no illusions: Pot killed Brendan.

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When Russ Britt started having blurred vision in his left eye, he didn't think a trip the eye doctor would end up with a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

Britt's eye doctor referred him to a doctor who ordered an MRI and he was diagnosed with MS as a result of tests.

Britt, a Naples resident for 30 years, has been coping with the disease for two years.

The cause of MS is still unknown to researchers. It attacks the immune cells and tricks them into attacking the nervous system.

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Hemp Fest Returns to Moscow With Food, Music and Information

Apparently, even in this day of instant communication and endless information as close as a cell phone, there still are people who think hemp is the stalk and stems of a harvested marijuana plant.

In fact, hemp is a strain of the cannabis plant that has no psychoactive properties and that for much of its long history primarily has been used to make rope. It also can be used to make paper and clothing.

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Idaho Moms for Marijuana hosts Hempathy for the Holidays, 2 to 5 p.m., Sunday on the corner of Front Street and 8th Street in Boise.

The event is a donation drive for non-perishable food items; new, unwrapped toys; warm coat, hats, gloves, and clothes - all gently used, please. New books for Operation Wishbook will also be accepted.

Donations will be distributed to The Idaho Food Bank and The Salvation Army.

Idaho Moms for Marijuana is a local grassroots organization that works for the legalization of marijuana, including for medical use.



[end]

Tweet that inspired this week's column: 420list Billionaire George Soros supports Proposition 19; Gives 1 million http://t.co/LN8IDQF

On election day, California may become the first state in the union to legalize recreational marijuana use. If passed, Proposition 19 will allow residents 21 years or older to possess up to 1 ounce of pot, which they can smoke at home or in licensed establishments.

Supporters of Proposition 19 claim that legalization would generate revenue, cut funding to drug cartels and stop the unjust arrests of otherwise law-abiding citizens. So, what's not to love?

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A new study out of the University of Washington shoots holes in the effectiveness of an anti-meth campaign supported by Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter and First Lady Lori Otter.

The study, published in the September issue of the Journal of Health Economics said that the Montana Meth Project, the model of similar projects in Idaho and six other states, didn't affect the use of the drug.

"Research shows that the project has had no discernable impact on meth use," said D. Mark Anderson, A UW doctoral student in economics, author of the study.

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Confessed marijuana grower Daniel E. Collins gets to keep his withheld judgment, and he can smoke marijuana while on probation, as long as he does it somewhere that it's legal.

Such was the ruling Monday by Judge Robert J. Elgee following arguments in 5th District Court on a motion filed by the Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney's Office questioning Collins' sentence, imposed by Elgee last month.

Elgee acknowledged nonetheless that he erred earlier by not making legally required findings in granting Collins a withheld judgment, a provision that allows a conviction to be removed from a defendant's record upon successful completion of probation. Elgee made the findings Monday and ruled that Collins deserved a withheld judgment anyway.

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ISP Report Shows 2009 Rates Varied Widely In South-Central Idaho

Blaine County joined three other counties in south-central Idaho in experiencing reduced crime rates in 2009.

The information is contained in the annual "Crime in Idaho" report released July 1 by the Idaho State Police Uniform Crime Reporting Program in Meridian. ISP compiles the data based on reports filed by police agencies throughout the state.

According to the report, Blaine County's crime rate dropped 23.8 percent in 2009. Other counties in ISP Region 4 showing crime rate reductions were Camas County at 45.3 percent, Gooding County at 33.8 percent and Twin Falls County at 4.4 percent.

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Lowest Police Priority Ranks Private Use Below Jay-Walking

Hailey police officers won't be trying to bust anyone for smoking marijuana in the privacy of their own home from now on-not since the City Council adopted three weeks ago a lowest-police-priority ordinance with regard to misdemeanor marijuana offenses.

Passage of the new ordinance comes too late for David Marks, who was arrested in August 2009 when Hailey police officers smelled marijuana when Marks opened his front door for them. The cops were looking for someone else, but entered the house and searched it when they reportedly smelled pot smoke.

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A north Idaho lawmaker wants to legalize medical marijuana as a means of helping residents deal with illnesses with chronic pain.

Rep. Tom Trail, R-Moscow, has been working on the issue for about two years and plans to introduce legislation in the 2011 session. Before that happens, he'll be able to gauge what other Idaho Republicans think of the idea at the party's convention next week in Idaho Falls, when he floats a proposed resolution to delegates.

Fifteen states, including Montana, Washington, Oregon and Nevada, have laws allowing medical marijuana, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

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Another reason to stop caging sick citizens who use cannabis (marijuana) that doesn't get mentioned (BW, News, "Compassionate Conservative Has Medical Marijuana On His Mind," April 13, 2010) is because it's biblically correct since Christ God Our Father, The Ecologician, indicates He created all the seed-bearing plants, saying they are all good, on literally the very first page (Genesis 1:11-12 and 29-30). The only biblical restriction placed on cannabis is that it is to be accepted with thankfulness (see 1 Timothy 4:1-5). And, "But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?" (See 1 John 3:17.)

Jesus Christ risked jail to heal the sick.

- --Stan White,

Dillon, Colo.

[end]

BOISE -- The Global Marijuana March is slated to rally in Boise today.

Supporters will begin gathering at the entrance to Julia Davis Park from 2 to 4 p.m. for the ninth year of the march. They will go to the Statehouse for a rally about 4 p.m. Speakers are scheduled for around 4:20 p.m.

"We just try to get people's attention to raise their awareness of whatever they want to know about, whether it's medical, or industrial or even responsible adult use," Rev. Tom Hayes, the march coordinator for Cures Not Wars and a Boise representative for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, said. " We don't condone drug use of any kind, but we do allow people in a free country to be free to express their own opinions."

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A compassionate Republican legislator plans to introduce new medical marijuana legislation during Idaho's 2011 session. If passed, it would make Idaho the 15th state in the nation to legalize marijuana use for patients with chronic illnesses who are currently forced to buy legal medical marijuana out of state and risk bringing it home.

Nearly a year ago, BW published my in-depth look at medical marijuana's supporters. Initially, my editor and I wondered if Idaho could save money on policing and generate revenue through taxation. Turns out, however, that decriminalization, taxation and lowest police priority are all off the table.

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Make no mistake about it, the Moscow Hemp Fest still is very much about food, music, buying cool stuff and having fun.

But the event, which will celebrate its 14th year Saturday at East City Park, now is becoming more political as well.

"We've put the activist aspect back into it, and I'm happy about that," said Arlene Falcon, a Moscow business owner who has organized Moscow Hemp Fest since 2006.

For years, the educational and political focus of the Moscow festival and other hemp festivals has been on industrial hemp. However, as states continue to legalize the use of medical marijuana - 14 so far - - that topic now is becoming a major part of the educational component of the festivals.

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