Hailey voters again pass marijuana initiatives

Associated Press ^ | May 28, 2008 | AP

[bird4four4]

HAILEY, Idaho (AP) - Three pro-marijuana initiatives have again been approved by voters in the central Idaho town of Hailey.

Voters yesterday approved initiatives to legalize medical use of marijuana, industrial use of hemp, and to make enforcement of marijuana laws the lowest police priority in the city.

Rejected was an initiative to require the city to regulate and tax distribution of the drug.

Voters last November passed the same three initiatives, but city officials balked at recognizing them.

[pnh102]

Voters last November passed the same three initiatives, but city officials balked at recognizing them.

Sometimes I wonder why we bother with elections again?

[microgood]

If you ever get busted in Hailey for pot, request a jury trial.

[LtKerst]

Hailey Idaho.....

leftist Geezers and Idiot Stoners....

A welfare state of Idiots and Commies.

[highimpact]

If you ever get busted in Hailey for pot, request a jury trial.

Far out. That's a good idea, man.

[hellbender]

Have a lot of hippies (or libertarians, or hippie libertarians) migrated to rural Idaho ?

[dcwusmc]

PING

[dcwusmc]

And that makes them wrong?

[microgood]

Have a lot of hippies (or libertarians, or hippie libertarians) migrated to rural Idaho ?

Actually it is a West thing generally. I saw a poll that asked questions about drug legalization geographically and what they found is that unlike the East Coast, South or Midwest, the majority of people in the Western states think drugs should be legalized/decriminalized, especially pot.

And that is also where the majority of libertarians live (Ron Paul got 24% in Idaho's primary).

[bird4four4]

That’s what I can’t believe. Forget that its about pot. The voters passed the initiative. The legislators ignore it. So they pass it again! I mean, I thought we were a government of the people. We have to vote twice on a measure, and it still probably won’t go through, even though it is the will of the people.

[megatherium]

Better them than the white supremacist crowd.

[bird4four4]

You are going to label the whole state of Idaho as idiots and commies? The people I know there are hard working potato farmers. Maybe a few have seen farms taken away because someone dared to grow an unapproved plant and are waking up to this overstepping of government.

I guess these idiots and commies are voting for the government to back off, and the government refuses to listen to them. Who are the real commies here?

[Billthedrill]

It’s a little more complicated than the story cares to detail. The only one of the three provisions that is really under the purview of the Hailey city government is the one on de-prioritizing enforcement of the hemp laws. The others really aren’t within the jurisdiction of the city and hence must be regarded as advisory only. It isn’t that the city government has been “ignoring” them, it’s that it isn’t empowered to do anything about them.

[GLDNGUN]

Insanity. A few years ago in California's Mendocino County, Measure "G" was passed which actually celebrated pot use, increased the number of plants that could be grown by individuals, and (as this Idaho initiative does) made enforcing pot laws the lowest LEO priority, right under jaw walking.

What is the result in one of the most liberal parts of the country?

The county has been virtually overrun by dope growers and drug dealers. They have moved there to run major pot growing operations, bringing their guns, vicious dogs, and environmental destruction with them. It's ironical that the liberal tree-huggers that dominate the county don't seem to care at all that the dope growers devastate the environment where they operate. If these were oil wells instead of pot farms you can bet your bottom dollar that every smelly freak in Northern California would be there and do everything in their power to "protect the environment", but since THEY are the ones doing the raping of the earth, it's all good.

Entire neighborhoods and rural areas are now rats nests filled with dope growers and drug dealers.

Finally, some people in this liberal county have had enough. Even plenty of the liberal politicians have had enough. "Measure B" is on the ballot for a vote next Tuesday, June 2nd. If passed, it would merely scrap the aforementioned "Measure G" and bring the county's laws in line with the rest of California. Oh, there will still be dopeheads and pot growers, but it will at least give LEO the green light to arrest and prosecute the worst offenders. As it is now, the DA's hands are tied and she's pretty much given up trying to prosecute cases against major pot growers. Her and about every LEO official is backing Measure B. The opponents of Measure B actually have the gall to use "Support Our Community" as a slogan in encouraging citizens to vote no on it. Support Our Community? Are you kidding me? Community of what? Dope growers and drug dealers, that's what. Hopefully, Mendocino County voters have had enough. The slogan for those in favor of Measure B is "Save Our County". That IS what is at stake.

It's extremely sad to see people in Idaho repeating this same scenario. One would think people in such a conservative state would have more common sense. I suspect, a few of those smelly hippies from California have made this community in Idaho their new home.

[mysterio]

Good.

Since it isn't a power granted to the federal government, it is a state issue. And since the states don't fight the fed effectively for the right, it goes to the people.

[mysterio]

Have a lot of hippies (or libertarians, or hippie libertarians) migrated to rural Idaho ?

Nah, just a pocket of people who still value the Constitution and individual liberty. Don't worry, they will be assimilated or crushed by statists momentarily.

[GLDNGUN]

Nah, just a pocket of people who still value the Constitution and individual liberty. Don't worry, they will be assimilated or crushed by statists momentarily.

Yeah, we can't really be called a "free" nation until everyone is "free" to grow, mancufacture, and sell pot, crack, meth..."

[TigersEye]

What? They’re disrespecting Federal law?

[mysterio]

We aren’t a free nation when someone can be arrested for the mere possession of a plant, especially when the interstate commerce and necessary and proper clauses of the Constitution have been decimated specifically to prevent a free individual from growing a plant.

[tacticalogic]

Yeah, we can't really be called a "free" nation until everyone is "free" to grow, mancufacture, and sell pot, crack, meth..."

If you say so. Are you comfortable saying we're still a constitutional republic when the federal government can assume control of any thing that could conceivably involve interstate commerce, no matter how peripherally?