Hailey, Idaho, residents to vote on marijuana initiatives again
Residents of the mountain town of Hailey, Idaho, will get to vote again soon on four new initiatives aimed at legalizing or reforming marijuana laws.Four new initiative petitions filed by an Idaho based pro-marijuana group have been certified, and scheduled to go on the May 27th primary election ballot in Hailey.The initiatives are identical to four other measures that were on the November 6th ballot. The initiatives for treating marijuana as the lowest law enforcement priority, the medical use of marijuana, and the legalization of hemp, passed by large majorities. The fourth initiative which would legalize marijuana for all adults was rejected.
Hailey city officials have said they plan to file a lawsuit in Fifth District Court seeking clarification on the three initiatives approved in November. The officials note that all three initiatives have possible conflicts with existing state and federal laws, which take precedence over local codes.
Good to see marijuana reform happening in one of the most conservative states – my homestate of Idaho! I played many gigs there with my band back in the longhaired club musician days. I can testify that there is a large pro-marijuana contingent in Hailey! The town has burst at the seams with growth. It’s just south of the glitzy ski resort town of Sun Valley, and many of the people who work the resorts, bars, and restaurants live in Hailey.
Hailey’s also famous for having been the home of Bruce Willis & Demi Moore, who bought up a lot of property in the small mountain town and renovated its downtown.
Smell of pot smoke no longer grounds for search, arrest
Matt Kruchak , Canwest News Service
SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA – The scent of weed wafting from an open car window doesn’t give an officer the right to make an arrest and search a vehicle, according to a recent decision made by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.The ruling is centred around the case of a driver who was pulled over by an RCMP officer. His truck had a broken headlight.The officer approached the vehicle and said he could smell burnt marijuana from a metre away. The driver was immediately arrested for possession of marijuana based only on the smell of the burnt narcotic.The officer then searched the vehicle and found eight grams of marijuana and what he thought was a list of contacts, which led to the driver being charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking.The case went to trial and the judge found the driver’s charter right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure had been violated. The scent of marijuana created a suspicion it was smoked, but didn’t provide reasonable and probable grounds for an arrest or a search, the judge concluded before excluding the evidence. The driver was declared not guilty.
The lawyer who defended the driver said, “The smell alone can’t constitute the grounds, because the smell of burnt marijuana – as opposed to raw marijuana – gives an inference that the material is gone, it’s dissipated into the atmosphere. So how can you say you’re in possession of something that doesn’t exist?”
Nice to see a court decision in favor of a cannabis consumer, but I can think of a better way to avoid being arrested for the smell of freshly-burnt marijuana coming from your car window… don’t smoke marijuana in your car!
California Supreme Court upholds firing of employees for using medical marijuana
By: ALYSOUN BONDE, The California Aggie Online
The California Supreme Court voted 5-2 on Jan. 24 to allow employers to fire employees who legally use medicinal marijuana.Gary Ross sued RagingWire Telecommunications Inc., his former employer, for wrongful termination and employment discrimination under the Fair Employment and Housing Act after he was fired in September 2001 after testing positive for marijuana. Ross was terminated despite having informed his employer at the time of hire about his status as a legal marijuana user and provided documentation to prove it, according to an appellate court brief.The California Supreme Court upheld the Third Appellate Court’s 2005 decision that “because the possession and use of marijuana is illegal under federal law, a court has no legitimate authority to require an employer to accommodate an employee’s use of marijuana, even if it is for medicinal purposes and thus legal under California law.”Due to injuries sustained during his service in the U.S. Air Force, Ross has suffered from lower back pain and muscle spasms since January.
“All I am asking is to be a productive member of society,” Ross said in a press release. “I was not fired for poor work performance, but for an antiquated policy on medical marijuana.”
Do we really want to be a country where the titans of industry get to make medical decisions for their employees? A nation where people have to choose between non-toxic effective herbal remedies and gainful employment? And those of you who don’t smoke marijuana, remember the Neimoller Poem… first they came for the trade unionists… Who’s to say the next thing they test for are anti-depressant drugs, under the theory that you’re a potential danger because you’re mentally unstable?