MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Legislation to legalize medical marijuana in Idaho will be
proposed in Boise this January, said the man behind the movement, Rep.
Tom Trail, R-Moscow.

Trail is drafting legislation modeled after bills from the National
Conference of State Legislatures, and it will incorporate elements of
statutes from Washington and Oregon, he said.

"I have a number of doctors up here who are very supportive of it,"
Trail said.

Thirty states had medical marijuana laws in 2007, with 12 - mostly in
the west - protecting patients from criminal prosecution, according
the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington D.C. non-profit
organization, which promotes legalization of medical marijuana and
other measures to regulate pot like alcohol.

Ryan Davidson, a marijuana activist and chairman of the Idaho Liberty
Lobby, pushed for three marijuana legalization initiatives in Hailey
in 2007 and 2008, which voters passed.

Davidson is suing the Marijuana Policy Project over a grant contract
dispute. But he's also consulting people in Moscow on a marijuana
policy campaign there, he said.

"The government's war on drugs is harmful and destructive public
policy," said Davidson. "Thousands of law-abiding citizens are
arrested and jailed for nothing other than marijuana."

Medical marijuana in Idaho could be a tough sell.

In June, delegates from a state GOP convention committee voted 21-9
for a resolution opposing relaxation of Idaho's pot stance, the
Associated Press reported.

But the Marijuana Policy Project is undaunted.

"Seriously ill Idaho residents will continue to be treated as
criminals for using their medicine - until legislators have the
courage and compassion to act," according to the Marijuana Policy
Project Web site.