HAILEY FORMS POT COMMITTEE

Group To Pursue Remnants Of Marijuana Initiatives

The city of Hailey will soon have a seven-member committee to oversee
all things cannabis. Whether the committee succeeds in reforming
marijuana laws will depend on who is on the committee and how
motivated they are to push for change.

Hailey voters approved three marijuana and industrial hemp
initiatives in 2007 and again in 2008. The initiatives were titled
the Hailey Medical Marijuana Act, the Hailey Lowest Police Priority
Act and the Hailey Industrial Hemp Act.

The city delayed implementing the initiatives, and instead Mayor Rick
Davis, City Councilman Don Keirn and Hailey Police Chief Jeff Gunter
filed a lawsuit last May against the city seeking judicial review of
their legality. Blaine County 5th District Court Judge Robert J.
Elgee ruled in March that most of the initiatives' provisions were
either contrary to Idaho law, in conflict with "free speech"
guarantees of the U.S. Constitution or illegal because they address
administrative functions of local government.

But remnants of those ordinances still exist, including a call to
form a community oversight committee.

"The people voted for this and they are getting the committee as
required," City Attorney Ned Williamson said. "I'm not sure what will
come out of them. They were never designed to make laws or implement policy."

The committee will instead make recommendations to the City Council
in keeping with the remaining provisions in the three ordinances,
which only have portions of the original language approved by voters.
The most significant declares the city in support of the legalization
of industrial hemp.

Seven committee members will be appointed--one by the mayor, one by
the police chief and four by the City Council. The seventh will be
appointed by the Liberty Lobby, which began the city's marijuana
initiative process in 2007.

"What the committee achieves will depend on who sits on it and how
active they are," said Mayor Davis, who is required to hear any
recommendations formulated by the committee. "The council will decide
if they are worth pursuing or not."

Dan Bernath, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project in
Washington, D.C., a lobbying and funding group for the reform of
marijuana laws, said the initiatives passed by Hailey voters will
serve as a "wake-up call" for local leaders.

"Local officials are sometimes the last to find out just how far
public attitudes about marijuana reform have progressed," he said.

Montana and Nevada have medical marijuana laws allowing for the
cultivation and use of the marijuana plant with doctor's orders.

Seattle and Denver have lowest police priority laws, enforced by
committees like the one forming this month in Hailey.