Marijuana debate hits Idaho

COEUR d'ALENE - Opponents say Idaho is next.

They're organizing informational meetings to fight legalizing medicinal marijuana, a issue that is sure to come the Gem State's way since neighboring states have already done so. They say the topic will come up during the 2012 legislative session, just as it had in 2011, but with even more vigor since pro-pot lobbyists have Idaho in their crosshairs.

Like dominos, after neighbors Washington and Montana have legalized it, they say Idaho is the last holdout in the Pacific Northwest, ripe to be targeted.

But voting to allow medicinal marijuana would be voting for chaos, they believe, which is why the Kootenai Alliance for Children and Families is hosting an informational meeting about it Oct. 14.

"There's no such thing as medical marijuana," said Monte Stiles, retired federal drug prosecutor, now involved in drug education programs. "It's like saying, 'chew up this gravel because there's iron in it.' It's ridiculous."

Stiles will be the guest speaker at the luncheon, which begins at noon at the Silver Lake Motel convention center.

It will focus on what he believes are serious dangers to legalizing marijuana for medicinal use.

Most pressing is the legal nightmare to which states open themselves up by legalizing it since it's a federally banned drug. And removing the stigma of drug use like marijuana increases its use as a gateway drug too, Stiles said.

States that have legalized its use, 16 as well as Washington, D.C., have noticed an increase in drug use overall in the last two years, he said.

If marijuana is a medicine, let it get cleared by the Federal Drug Administration, like other drugs. Marinol, which has THC as an ingredient just like pot, is already legal. But the medicinal argument is less about doctors and more about legalizing it period.

"It's about smoking weed, that's what they're pushing," he said. "They're not even clever at disguising it anymore ... It's another part of an unending surrender to the drug culture."

But proponents of legalizing it say the local resistance is off target.

The issue has always been a state one, they say, pointing to the different laws and penalties, which range from heavy fines to slaps on the wrist, each state has for possessing the drug.

Rep. Tom Trail, R -Moscow, plans to introduce a bill allowing medicinal use next year, as he did in 2011.

Even if he does, out-of-state support likely won't come, said Paul Armentano, deputy director for the NORML, a marijuana advocacy foundation in Washington, D.C, because Idaho doesn't matter enough in the national debate.

"There just hasn't been that kind of infrastructure in Idaho, that it's worth their time and effort," Armentano said of lobbyists targeting the state. "For better or worse, Idaho is not a bellwether state when it comes to national discourse."

The attention will be spent in Washington and Massachusetts, for example, places where the topic has been a local issue for the better part of a decade.

"Nobody has particularly high hopes for Idaho right now," he said.

NORML supports legalizing the drug, not just for medicine. While opponents claim the drug can cause respiratory and memory damage, NORML points to several well-documented beneficial effects the drug has. It's used to treat nausea, stimulate hunger in chemotherapy and AIDS patients, and helps relieve eye pressure for glaucoma patients, to name a few.

The reason the FDA hasn't ruled on the drug, is because no big company has asked the FDA to. The FDA rules on drugs that companies bring to it so they can market them.

And since no drug company has the legal authority to mass-produce the plant and bring it to the department for a conclusion, the FDA won't rule on it.

"If it were brought to the FDA, it would pass," he said, calling the FDA argument a red herring.

Added to that is the fact that states that passed the law beginning in the mid-90s noticed a drop in overall drug use for more than a decade, before recently rising in 2009.

States have led the issue for a long time, and the federal government follows what states do. California banned marijuana in 1913, decades before the government took a stance.

The public knows what it wants best, Armentano said.

"The American public, for the most part, is not comfortable with the federal government getting in between, intervening, with a doctor and his patient," he said.

But should Idaho explore legislation to legalize it, Kootenai Alliance for Children and Families wants the public to be informed. The meeting is geared at educating all angles on the topic.

"Drug use leads to more drug use," said Kerri Wilfong, KACF director. "It's always a cause for concern when it comes to people making good choices. When the perception is that it's a medicine, it can be harmful because we know it is an addictive substance that has damaging effects to the body."

Luncheon tickets are $5 for non-members, while alliance members get in for free.

Info: KACF: 676-8293