MARIJUANA ADVOCATE RESURRECTS LEGALIZATION CAMPAIGN

Davidson Seeks Referendum Votes in Valley's Municipalities

If pro-marijuana advocate Ryan Davidson has his way, puffs of smoke in
the Wood River Valley will be from more than just wildfires.

Davidson, a Garden City man who formerly lived in Bellevue, is trying
to resurrect his three-year old campaign to legalize marijuana in some
of the valley's municipalities. Specifically, the cities of Sun Valley
and Hailey are on his hit list.

Davidson has initiated steps to try to get the issue on the ballots in
those cities, perhaps as early as the general elections on Nov. 6.

As chairman of a group called Liberty Lobby of Idaho, Davidson has
been embroiled in on-and-off legal battles with three of the valley's
municipalities for the past three years. The various lawsuits started
after Davidson filed prospective petitions in August 2004 to initiate
referendum votes on legalizing marijuana in the cities of Sun Valley,
Hailey and Ketchum.

All three cities denied his petitions on the constitutionality of the
issue. Hailey further declined to process his petition because
Davidson was not a resident of Hailey, a requirement that Davidson
expects to be struck down in federal court.

His drive to legalize marijuana was given new life in September 2006
when the Idaho Supreme Court ruled that the city of Sun Valley did not
have the right to determine the constitutionality of the issue,
regardless of whether or not the proposed initiative appeared to be in
violation of state or federal law.

The Supreme Court, in a precedent-setting decision, ruled that only
the courts have the authority to determine the constitutionality of a
referendum issue. However, if a referendum to legalize marijuana were
passed in Idaho, it would likely be subject to litigation as it would
be at odds with both state and federal law.

Nonetheless, with his Supreme Court victory in hand, Davidson formally
requested on Aug. 24 that the city of Sun Valley certify his
three-year-old petition. He got his certification a few days later in
a letter from Sun Valley Assistant City Attorney Adam King.

Under Idaho's referendum process, an advocate for a referendum vote is
required to file two separate petitions with the municipality in
question. The first, referred to as prospective petition, requires the
signatures of 20 registered voters in the municipality. A second
petition, to actually get the issue on a ballot, requires the
signatures of 20 percent of the number of voters who cast ballots in
the municipality's last general election.

Davidson has been informed by King that his final petition needs the
signatures of 118 registered Sun Valley voters. The number is 20
percent of the electorate who cast votes in November 2003, the last
city general election prior to the filing of Davidson's prospective
petition in 2004.

Davidson is uncertain whether he can get that many signatures in Sun
Valley in time to make the Nov. 6 ballot, but Hailey is a different
story.

His optimism is based upon the fact that only 85 registered voters,
about 2.5 percent of the electorate, turned out for the uncontested
Hailey city elections in November 2005. That would mean that Davidson
needs only 17 signatures on his final petition.

In order to take advantage of the low signature requirement, Davidson
said he will disregard his original prospective petition and file a
new one.

He also needs a favorable ruling from U.S. District Court in Idaho,
where he has challenged Hailey's residency requirement. A decision has
not yet been issued, but Davidson filed a motion last week for a
temporary restraining order that would force the city to accept his
prospective petition even though he's not a resident.

Davidson is confident of a favorable ruling. Although he's not an
attorney, Davidson has thoroughly researched the matter and in his
motion cites considerable case law in which residency requirements
have been struck down in other jurisdictions.

"I'm almost absolute that it will be on the ballot in Hailey," he
said.