OTTER ON LEGALIZING POT IN IDAHO: 'I DON'T SEE THAT HAPPENING'

In an interview with Idaho Conservative Blogger, Gov. Butch Otter says
he's consulted with governors in states permitting marijuana use, but
doubts the Legislature will ever send him a bill.

If they did, he hinted he would veto the measure, calling pot a
"gateway drug." Among Otter's major initiatives have been the Idaho
Meth Project, a favorite cause of his wife, Lori. As a young lawmaker
in the 1970s, Otter supported decriminalization, but his views have
shifted.

Rep. Tom Trail, R-Moscow, has pushed for years to legalize industrial
hemp, but gotten no traction in the Legislature.

If another effort were made to legalize pot, Otter said he expects
proponents would consult with him. "I won't commit to signing or
vetoing anything up front but I will relate to them the 16 states that
now have it and I've talked to most every one of those Governors about
what kind of problems are they having," he told the blogger, who
writes anonymously but lands interviews with leading Idaho
politicians.

Citing his support for states' rights, Otter reiterated his view when he
served in the U.S. House: that he doesn't support federal efforts to
block legalization, but, "I don't ever want it to happen in Idaho..."

Otter acknowledged the drug's effectiveness as pain relief, but said
drug companies have responded with legal alternatives.

Otter once supported decriminalization. He told Statesman columnist
Steve Ahrens in 1977 that while he opposed drug use personally, he
also opposed outlawing drugs.

"If a person, of his own free will, wants to use marijuana, I question
whether the government has any propriety in telling him he can't --
but it does when the result is misuse that harms someone else, " Otter
told Ahrens, whose column was headlined, "Otter Seeks Freedom -- For
Everyone."

In the 1970s, Otter opposed a bill, which passed 57-9, to expand the
definition of marijuana to any material including the plant's active
ingredient. He also voted to loosen the standard for felony possession
of pot from 1 ounce to 3 ounces.

ICB's post also includes Otter's views on Occupy Boise. And ICB
promises a future post on Otter's response to conspiracy theorists who
see Chinese business interests in Idaho as a threat to U.S.
sovereignty and a New York Times columnist's suggestion that he run
for president.