MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL INTRODUCED IN IDAHO HOUSE

BOISE - Medical marijuana legislation was introduced in the Idaho
House today, where Rep. Tom Trail, R-Moscow, introduced HB 370 as a
personal bill.

He proposed similar legislation last year; it got an informational
hearing from the House Health & Welfare Committee, but didn't
proceed. HB 370 would permit patients with debilitating medical
conditions to be dispensed up to 2 ounces of marijuana every 28 days;
they'd have to get it from state-authorized "alternative treatment centers."

The bill says, "Compassion dictates that a distinction be made
between medical and nonmedical uses of marijuana. Hence, the purpose
of this chapter is to protect from arrest, prosecution, property
forfeiture, and criminal or other penalties those patients who use
marijuana to alleviate suffering from debilitating medical
conditions, as well as their physicians, primary care givers and
those who are authorized to produce marijuana for medical purposes."
Under the measure, only patients who'd registered with the state and
received a registration card could legally possess medical marijuana.

An Idaho group currently is gathering signatures for a proposed
initiative to legalize medical marijuana; Trail said last year that
other states' experience has shown that legislation with strict
controls is preferable to a voter initiative.

In the Idaho Legislature, individual lawmakers can introduce
legislation without a committee's say-so within the opening weeks of
the session; they then are assigned to committees for possible hearings.