LEGAL POTHOLE

This is the first of a two-part look at the issues and potential problems for North Idaho institutions — especially our schools — caused by having legal marijuana available just a few miles away in Washington. The second part of this analysis will appear in Monday’s Press.

Royce Aubrey Johnson has never been a household name, nor does he wish to become one.

Unfortunately, Johnson was involved in an incident last April that continues to have rippling effects throughout Kootenai County — most especially in the Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls school districts.

The issue is legal marijuana, and specifically its availability nearby across the Washington state line.

Idaho, of course, is firm in its opposition to any form of the drug — including use for medical purposes. But the state shares 77 percent of its border with pot-friendly states, and the legal isolation became even greater last week with victories for looser marijuana laws in Nevada and Montana.

The most serious matter in North Idaho, however, is that there are plenty of recreational marijuana sales outlets in Spokane, and what that availability might mean in an Idaho school — or even in a Kootenai County courtroom.

Such concern leads back to Johnson, who would be just another name in the county misdemeanor files if he weren’t an English teacher at Coeur d’Alene High.

In the early evening of April 13, Johnson was involved in a traffic incident on Prairie Avenue. According to a couple who filed a complaint with police, Johnson cut them off at a spot where Prairie merges to one lane — and then made a motion that seemed as though he were pointing a gun at them.

Police officers ultimately confronted Johnson at his home in Coeur d’Alene, were granted permission to search his car and found no firearm. But they did discover a Mason jar containing marijuana.

Johnson eventually admitted the drug was his, and that he had been smoking it quite recently.

The teacher was charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. Both are misdemeanors, but potential penalties can be stiff.

In Idaho, possession of less than three ounces of marijuana is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison or a $1,000 fine. If the amount is between three ounces and a pound, the charge is a felony with the maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

In the time before Johnson actually appeared before a judge in July, he did two things — one of which almost certainly saved his job, and another which turned out not to matter at all.

First, Johnson notified the Coeur d’Alene School District of his arrest.

“Unfortunately, I cannot share too many details as this is a personnel matter,” said Superintendent Matt Handelman. “But what I can share is that the district became aware of the situation based on the employee self-disclosing, per our district policies.

“We have been in contact with our legal counsel, the state’s Professional Standards Commission, have addressed the issue that occurred outside the work day with the employee, and have taken appropriate action.”

Whatever action was taken, it did not include Johnson being suspended or fired.

Meanwhile, in mid-June, Johnson obtained a medical marijuana use permit from a doctor in Spokane — citing pain from back surgery in 2008 and using a Washington address.

By that time, many parents whose children attended Coeur d’Alene High had become aware of the situation and waited to see what would happen to Johnson in court.

Some, at least, wound up extremely disappointed.

In a three-minute court appearance before Judge James Stow, Johnson was offered a plea by Kootenai County Assistant Prosecutor Silvia Irimescu — and promptly accepted a charge of inattentive driving, along with a $300 fine.

It turned out that prosecutors gave Johnson a break because he was a teacher, exactly the same reason that a group of parents thought he should be punished more harshly.

The county’s chief prosecuting attorney, Barry McHugh, stood by the decision.

“The deputy prosecutor handling the matter ... was aware of a common office practice in possession of marijuana/possession of paraphernalia cases for first-time offenders — to dismiss one of the charges for a plea to the other,” McHugh said.

“Both offenses are misdemeanors. It is most common for the possession of marijuana to be dismissed for a plea to possession of paraphernalia.

“In this case, the impact on Mr. Johnson’s employment was considered, and it was agreed that Mr. Johnson would plead to inattentive driving, also a misdemeanor.

“The factual basis for the inattentive driving related to the initial report that Mr. Johnson was driving in a fashion that put people or property at risk, to which he pled guilty.”

McHugh added the medical marijuana permit issued in Washington “was never considered,” nor were other factors put forward by Johnson’s attorney.

To the prosecutors, the keys to the plea arrangement seemed to be that Johnson was a teacher with no prior arrest record, and although he was found in possession of an illegal drug along with paraphernalia, Johnson never was tested to see if the marijuana had affected him on the day of his arrest.

“Very simply, there is no reliable test for marijuana impairment,” McHugh said.

That final statement, it turns out, cuts to the heart of a baffling problem for all Idaho employers — but especially for school districts in Kootenai County.

Royce Aubrey Johnson remains an English instructor at Coeur d’Alene High, having been arrested with an illegal drug in his possession.

So how does anyone, and when should anyone, actually punish a marijuana user in Idaho?

MONDAY: Easy access to legal marijuana, difficulty in discerning impairment, near-impossible testing and a changing society all combine to make life difficult for school districts and the law enforcement community. Can upholding Idaho law and the rights of individual employees co-exist without an eventual collision?