cannabisnews.com: Hailey Snuffs Out Pot Initiatives Hailey Snuffs Out Pot Initiatives Posted by CN Staff on January 17, 2008 at 07:54:57 PT By Terry Smith, Express Staff Writer Source: Idaho Mountain Express Idaho -- They weren't killed outright, but the Hailey City Council effectively snuffed out three controversial marijuana reform initiatives approved by voters in November. Instead of repealing the initiatives, the council voted unanimously Monday to amend them into meaninglessness. Since the meeting was running late, the members scheduled a dissection of the three initiatives for their next meeting on Jan. 28. At that time, the council will consider sanitized versions of the initiatives prepared by City Attorney Ned Williamson, who said he'll take out provisions contrary to federal or state law. All that will be left will be some sort of a "marijuana" oversight committee, originally intended in the initiatives as a way to work out the details for their implementation into law. Council President Martha Burke said the fact that the initiatives passed shows that many voters want marijuana laws reformed and a committee would give those voters an avenue to explore those issues. "I think an awful lot of people wanted the laws addressed," Burke said. But Councilman Don Keirn said that forming the committee would be a waste of time. "We'll have an awful lot of people doing stuff that accomplishes nothing," Keirn said. "Who wants to waste their time?" With the sanitized versions of the initiatives, gone will be a provision that would have allowed legal smoking of pot for medicinal reasons, a provision that would have allowed farmers to grow hemp for industrial purposes and a provision that would have made enforcement of marijuana laws the lowest priority for the Hailey Police Department. The three initiatives, approved by simple majority on Nov. 6, 2007, were put to the electorate mainly through the efforts of Ryan Davidson, a former Bellevue man who now lives in Garden City and is director of The Liberty Lobby of Idaho. "I'm not surprised, but I am disappointed," Davidson said. "I guess I'll have to figure out what to do next." An option he's considering is introducing other marijuana reform initiatives in Hailey. He's also looking at reform initiatives in Ketchum and possibly Sun Valley. Davidson's work is part of a grassroots effort to reform state and federal marijuana laws. The Hailey City Council's decision to kill the reform initiatives was not unexpected. Council members have shown no inclination to adopt the initiatives into law and instead have had attorney Williamson work with the Idaho Attorney General's Office to come up with justifications to invalidate them. The vote was 4-0, with Burke, Keirn, Fritz Haemmerle and Mayor Rick Davis in agreement on the issue. Councilwoman Carol Brown declined to participate in either the discussion or the vote, as she has since the initiatives were approved by the electorate. As a U.S. Forest Service employee, Brown has said, she has been advised by her employer that she should not participate in issues that are in conflict with federal law. Numerous legal issues were discussed but council members said their main reason for amending the initiatives was so that they wouldn't violate their oaths of office, wherein they swear to uphold the laws of the United States and the state of Idaho. Note: Council votes to amend them into oblivion.Newshawk: RipitSource: Idaho Mountain Express (ID)Author: Terry Smith, Express Staff WriterPublished: Wednesday, January 16, 2008Copyright: 2008 Express Publishing, Inc.Contact: letters mtexpress.comWebsite: http://www.mtexpress.com/Related Articles:Attorney Tells Hailey To Slash Marijuana Reformshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23600.shtmlHailey Delays Decision on Pot Initiativeshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23567.shtmlKudos To ‘Grass Roots’ Movementhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23478.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #14 posted by runruff on January 21, 2008 at 11:28:52 PT: RGB That was funny! [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by BGreen on January 20, 2008 at 19:14:42 PT eye no eye halve problems righting If spill Czech doesn't cache it, then eye is likely two make miss steaks, two. LOLThe Reverend Bud Green [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by runruff on January 20, 2008 at 19:06:47 PT: I ment faceted. Sometimes I think I'm spelling one word when I am acually spelling another. Or mayby a creative version of the word I really want to spell.I am sometimes amazed at some of the renditions I come up with after I see them in print.Bare with me please. [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by runruff on January 20, 2008 at 18:24:02 PT: Why go on and on? The profits and power derived from alcohol prohibition were a mere pettance compared to the multifascited, many layered profits and power provided by this monster.Everyday this ruse is alive means billions of dollars and never before, even dreamed of, power for our power hungry federal bumblement.Alcohol prohibition, in comparison, was a girlscout bake sale. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by Hope on January 20, 2008 at 14:16:35 PT Fonts I didn't have the fonts available that I needed to post that excerpt.The font needed to be blacker, bloodier, reeking grief and sorrow.I've said this before. It's on my mind again.Our grandparents ended prohibition because of the last straw in the violence and horror of the execution of seven gangsters and dog in a Chicago warehouse.Yet we've let this failed prohibition of, once again, something that enough people want, that it's very noticeably important, go on and on. Year after year. Decade after decade. The horrors and violence caused by this prohibition have piled so high and become so egregious that the infamous deaths, injuries, violence, bloodshed, suspicions, and corruption of that earlier prohibition, pale so much in comparison to this modern day prohibition.Once again, I have to ask. How long must this horrible misadventure in history continue? How many more innocents must die and suffer? [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by Hope on January 20, 2008 at 13:45:53 PT Excerpt "Seventeen people were killed last week as organized crime struck back. Last Monday night and Tuesday morning, heavily armed men killed three of Capella's senior police officers, shooting one at his home along with his wife and two daughters. Two days later, schoolchildren ran for their lives as police and soldiers battled with drug cartel members in a normally quiet neighborhood. Police found six executed kidnap victims inside the suspects' house. A federal agent and a gunman died in the shootout." [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by Hope on January 20, 2008 at 13:34:05 PT Still More Hideous Drug War Tragedy Tragic. Hideous. Shameful.Yet probably even this, like all the other tragedies of the War on Drugs, that could have been prevented, won't slow down the prohibitionists.This is on the front page of today's LA Times.Tijuana's new chief knows the cartel's killers are after himhttp://tinyurl.com/2uqvpy [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Hope on January 20, 2008 at 11:06:33 PT True, Observer. Too true. Has there been anything like this before in our history? Have officials just out right bulldozed over and ignored votes and the will of the people about anything but this issue?When the Medical Marijuana vote in Washington, D.C., was bulldozed over and buried like it never happened, I knew our system must be a big lie after all. For sure. It was devastating to realize that what you thought was made out of gold was just a pile of poop... designed to look like gold.The people were overruled by their so called elected representatives. *sigh* Our system isn't "gold". When you refine it, there's nothing left but lies.They screamed it from Capital Hill. They screamed it back at the voters in Hailey. "Your vote doesn't matter! We'll do what we want! We'll dictate to you, the people, exactly as we decide! Forget that democracy crap and the "Of the people, by the people, and for the people"! Liars! Thieves of precious rights and hopes! Traitors to what this country is supposed to be!How can they keep getting away with things like this? What can be done? Why can't the city council, and whomever, just resign if they feel so bad about following the will of the people? Prohibitionists have and are destroying something that was supposed to be good and right, and replacing it with dictatorships that any third world country would be envious of.They've shackled and crippled and besmirched Lady Liberty. It's a horrible thing to see. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by observer on January 20, 2008 at 09:32:25 PT Within The System - Corrupt the Hailey City Council effectively snuffed out three controversial marijuana reform initiatives approved by voters in November. Instead of repealing the initiatives, the council voted unanimously Monday to amend them into meaninglessness.Next time you hear some apologist for fascism piously assert, "But of course you must work within the system if you want to legalize marijuana," remember the Hailey city council. Prohibitionists want to toss you in jail, and steal your property and money. The rest is window dressing; lies. "Work through your elected representatives," my eye. Democracy, my foot. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by potpal on January 18, 2008 at 10:47:07 PT more like Hailey Snuffs Out Democracy [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by runruff on January 17, 2008 at 11:47:59 PT "The world turned upside down" When the British were forced to surrender at Yorktown, they marched single file and threw their muskets onto a pile while the band played "The World Turned Upside Down".Since "all politics is local" has been common knowledge since the begining of civilization, reading this article reminded me of this event and how dreadful the Brits must have felt. Only in this case the usuper is the very goverment that won our freedoms that day. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by fight_4_freedom on January 17, 2008 at 09:13:05 PT: Oh how I love this story so very much Medical Marijuana Users Seek $200K For Lost StashSuit May Encourage Colorado Police to Reexamine Drug RaidsIs medical marijuana different from other prescriptions? (AP)Today in Fort Collins, Colo., a lawyer will walk into a court house and ask the city to pay his clients for destroying their marijuana. The motion for compensation asks Fort Collins to fork over $202,800, the most money ever sought for the destruction of a drug.In August 2006, police confiscated the plants from the home of James and Lisa Masters, both of whom (on their doctor's advice) use marijuana to cope with a variety of debilitating illnesses. Their house also serves as the county chapter of the Colorado Compassion Club, a statewide network that provides pot for medical marijuana patients.Since 2000 Colorado, like 12 other states, has allowed registered users to grow pot. But police officers have scant training and less guidance for handling a legal marijuana growing operation. They are not instructed to ask for permits, for example, and many officers believe medical marijuana protection inhibits their ability to bust illicit users.In June 2007, Larimer County Chief Judge James Hiatt dismissed charges against the couple and ruled that the 2006 raid was illegal. With that decision he set into motion a test of Article XVIII, Section 14 of the Colorado Constitution, which calls for the immediate return of any marijuana "seized by state or local law enforcement officials from a patient or primary care-giver."In November Judge Hiatt ordered a return of the Masters' property, including the medical marijuana plants. In December the Masters went to pick them up, but after more than 16 months, their medicine was unusable."We are not equipped with hydroponic growing equipment," police spokesperson Rita Davis explained. Few evidence rooms are, but Colorado law states that "any property ... used in connection with the medical use of marijuana... shall not be harmed, neglected, injured, or destroyed while in the possession of state or local law enforcement officials."According to their lawyer, the Masters want more than just monetary compensation. "We want police to stop destroying people's medicine and start following the law," Brian Vicente says. "The goal is to get police to change their procedures." Washington Post [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by dongenero on January 17, 2008 at 08:55:54 PT Great line Sam! "I keep watching for those terrorists to attack my freedoms, but year after year, all I see is the government attacking our freedom."This quote will show up in a few online signatures I would guess. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on January 17, 2008 at 08:13:56 PT Idaho Whoops! We almost had some freedom breaking out here, wouldn't want that to happen. I keep watching for those terrorists to attack my freedoms, but year after year, all I see is the government attacking our freedom. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment