Mayor: Pot on private land a low priority

HAILEY, Idaho (AP) - The mayor of Hailey in central Idaho says efforts to curb marijuana use on private property will be the local police force's lowest priority.

Mayor Rick Davis's announcement comes after residents of this tourist town south of Sun Valley passed pro-marijuana initiatives: one to allow medical marijuana, another to legalize industrial hemp and a third to make enforcement of anti-pot laws the lowest priority for Hailey police.

A citizen panel, the Marijuana Oversight Committee, has been debating how to respond to voters' wishes - and still uphold state laws that make pot offenses a serious crime.

Davis told the Hailey City Council the decision to make pot smoking on private property the least pressing police priority wasn't easy, but it represents something that works for those on both sides of this issue.

"This means that Hailey police will not go out and actively look for people smoking pot on private property, but they never have," Davis told the Idaho Mountain Express.