HAILEY POT SMOKERS CAN RELAX AT HOME

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.

Felony charges against Marks for possession of more than 3 ounces of
marijuana were later dismissed as part of a plea agreement, under
which Marks agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of
possession of drug paraphernalia.

Marks, who police records report had more than 6 ounces of marijuana
in his possession, was sentenced to six months unsupervised probation.
He was ordered to pay a fine, restitution and court costs totaling
$587.50, to perform 100 hours of community service and to undergo drug
counseling.

Hailey Police Chief Jeff Gunter said this week that under the new
ordinance, Hailey cops would not have entered Marks' residence in
search of contraband.

"We would have just walked away," Gunter said. "We have to retrain
officers on how we do things. Pretty much anything else we do now
ranks as higher priority. Marijuana on private property ranks below
crosswalk violations, traffic infractions, theft."

"This is the first time an Idaho town has taken such a move to
decriminalize marijuana offenses," said Ryan Davidson, the Garden City
man who got four marijuana legalization initiatives on the Hailey
ballot three years ago.

Three of the initiatives were passed by voters twice. They proposed
allowing the use of marijuana for medical purposes, legalizing
industrial hemp and making enforcement of marijuana laws the lowest
priority for Hailey police.

Portions of all three ordinances were redacted by 5th District Judge
Robert Elgee, but a marijuana oversight committee was formed and
charged with gathering information and making recommendations to the
City Council on how the city should handle issues regarding marijuana
policy.

In February, the committee decided to pursue a revival of the
lowest-police-priority ordinance by asking Mayor Rick Davis to adopt
it in some form. The mayor complied, after taking comments from Gunter.

"This is significant because any government action that goes against
existing marijuana laws is unusual and represents a sea change in
thought," Davidson said.

Seattle, Denver and Missoula County in Montana have similar
lowest-police-priority laws, enforced by committees like the one in
Hailey.

The Hailey Marijuana Oversight Committee members are Peter Lobb
(president), Tom Hickey, Steve England, Joanie Allen and Frank Halverson.

They will meet later this month and make a formal statement in
response to the new ordinance.