Hailey Backs Off On Marijuana Reforms

[Respect]

HAILEY - Three of Hailey's four City Council members voted Monday to freeze their consideration of three recently passed marijuana reform acts while the Idaho Attorney General's office forms an opinion on the legality of the acts.

But all three council members seemed willing to follow the will of voters, so long as it poses no conflict with their oath to not violate state laws. In the meantime they are heeding the direction of the city attorney. "It is my strong recommendation that we do not pursue an option tonight," said City Attorney Ned Williamson, who pointed out the apparent conflict between the state Constitution and the ordinances. "I think it would be foolish to admit that there are no issues with the general laws of the state of Idaho," Williamson said. "Hailey has the right to pass laws but they have to be constitutional."

Williamson said the attorney general's office has begun a review of the newly passed measures, but he has no idea how long that review will take.

The three measures passed were to legalize medical marijuana, make enforcement of marijuana laws the lowest police priority, and legalize industrial hemp. Voters turned down a fourth initiative that would have legalized marijuana use and required the city to regulate sales. A fourth council member, Carol Brown, did not hear Williamson's legal advice. She left the room, recusing herself from the discussion at the recommendation of her second employer: the federal government.

All three marijuana reform laws require city officials to advocate expanding the marijuana reform cause to the state level. But federal employees are prohibited from political advocacy. Because Brown is also a federal employee with the U.S. Forest Service, she has been told to suspend her involvement in the matter. While ethics officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture decide whether Brown will have to resign, Councilwoman Martha Burke said she is dismayed by that possibility. Burke noted more voters elected Brown for council than voted for the initiatives. "I don't know how I can reconcile how the Forest Service won't even let her be in the same room," Burke said. "She has to recuse herself?"

The possible ousting of Brown is likely not an intended consequence of the vote, Williamson said.

After the attorney general offers an opinion, Williamson said, council members will have several options. They can simply implement the three initiatives without making changes. They may amend the acts to avoid legal conflicts, repeal the acts, or have the city challenge the law in court.

The first and possibly most contentious initiative, the Hailey Medical Marijuana Act, would create an ordinance legalizing use and possession of 35 grams for medicinal purposes. But the courts have held that state and federal laws, which criminalize marijuana, trump local ordinances.

A second act aimed at encouraging Hailey police officers to ease up on pot offenses, might encroach on the administrative autonomy of the Hailey police and prosecutor. Making laws that control how public offices are administrated is illegal, according to state law.

Source: Times-News, The (ID)
Copyright: 2007 Magic Valley Newspapers
Contact: letters@magicvalley.com
Website: http://www.magicvalley.com/