House fails to pass drug amendment bill

After a lengthy and long-awaited floor debate, a bill that would make it harder to legalize certain drugs — including marijuana — failed in the Idaho House Thursday.

The House began the day with House Joint Resolution 4, which would have proposed an amendment to the Idaho Constitution requiring a two-thirds majority to legalize Schedule I and Schedule II controlled substances. While that list of drugs includes heroin, oxycodone and ecstasy, lawmakers couldn’t help but note the elephant in the room during the floor debate.

“The people of Idaho overwhelmingly would like medical marijuana,” Rep. Mike Kingsley, R-Lewiston, told the body. “It’s off the scales. Idaho is the last state to just hold out to not give people medicine that they need for cancer, for nausea. There’s so many people that medical marijuana works for.”

Idaho is actually one of six states that keeps marijuana — medical or recreational — fully illegal. Marijuana is a Schedule I drug, as listed by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Controlled substances are categorized as Schedule I when they possess a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use. That latter descriptor was the source of fierce dispute as debate over HJR 4 moved toward its third hour.

Lawmakers brandished their own personal stories with marijuana, with proponents of the bill citing family members who’ve struggled with addiction and opponents conversely recalling loved ones who’ve benefited from marijuana to relieve symptoms, particularly from cancer.

Rep. Gayann DeMordaunt, R-Eagle, led House sponsorship of the bill.

“Heroin, methamphetamines: They are not things we should be taking lightly,” she said. “We have to buttress our state against Oregon-style — and now Washington-style — policies that come with them … When we look over at Denver or Seattle or Portland, do we, as Idahoans, see Boise next? Is that what we want to see our cities, our towns, our communities become?”

A similar bill cleared the Senate earlier in the session. Had HJR 4 passed, the matter would have gone to voters in November.

Rep. Jim Addis, R-Coeur d’Alene, said he grappled with his own ethics before deciding to vote in favor of the bill.

“Like many of you, this is a very difficult vote for me,” he told the House. “But like many of you, I come from a law-and-order family.”

The "ayes" out-voted the ‘nays’ 42 - 28, but because a constitutional amendment requires two-thirds of both the House and Senate before going to voters, the resolution fell five votes short.