[Vision2020] Blaine County GOP Votes to Support Legalizing Marijuana

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of the Magic Valley Times-News at:

http://tinyurl.com/ayp44rc
 
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Blaine County GOP Votes to Support Legalizing Marijuana
BOISE • A group of Republicans in the Wood River Valley want to change how Idaho looks at marijuana criminalization.

On Tuesday, the Blaine County Republican Central Committee passed a resolution to legalize marijuana.

The resolution isn’t law, nor will it necessarily lead to a law. A resolution simply states the central committee’s support for a proposed policy.

Committeman Mike Connor said the resolution passed 6-2. Much of the discussion before the vote focused on the failure of the War on Drugs and how to most effectively keep marijuana away from children, he said.

“The Blaine County GOP believes that the time has come to amend criminal prohibition and replace it with a system of legalization, and education,” the resolution says. It goes on to discuss violent crime and the black market that marijuana criminalization has created, and how legalization will help regulation.

Not all Blaine County Republicans agree with the resolution. Sheriff Gene Ramsey, who didn’t attend the meeting, said marijuana and other drugs should remain illegal.

“I think that we need to, as a nation, take a hard stand on drugs,” Ramsey said. With marijuana decriminalization, “we’re sending the wrong example to our youth.”

After passage, the Blaine County Republicans will send the resolution to the state committee.

“That’s probably as far as it’s going to go for now,” he said.

Idaho Republican Party executive director Joshua Whitworth said county central committees pass resolutions all the time.

“That’s the first I’ve heard on marijuana,” he said.

Connor said the Blaine County Republicans aren’t trying to encourage drug use.

“It’s not about doing drugs. I want to be very clear about that,” he said. But regulation will ensure criminals won’t benefit from the sale of marijuana, he said.

Ramsey acknowledged that there might be problems with the War on Drugs.

“It may not be working, but that doesn’t mean you should just give up,” he said. “I think law enforcement’s role is to stay proactive on this issue.”

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Blaine County Resolution

WHEREAS, despite almost a century of prohibition, thousands of Idahoans today regularly consume marijuana and other cannabis products. It has had no effect on adult consumption but it has made it much easier for children to buy the drug;

WHEREAS, Criminal marijuana prohibition is a failure. Over 20 million Americans have been arrested for marijuana offenses since 1965. The Blaine County GOP believes that the time has come to amend criminal prohibition and replace it with a system of legalization, and education.

WHEREAS the failed prohibition of marijuana has exhausted countless billions of dollars spent on ineffective or incomplete enforcement and has resulted in unnecessarily dangerous and expensive congestion in our judicial system;

WHEREAS the legal status quo for the criminal regulation of marijuana continues to endanger Idahoans by generating significant resources for gang-related violent criminal activity and weapons smuggling – a reality which could be very easily confronted by the regulation and legitimization of Idaho’s marijuana industry;

WHEREAS there is a creeping influx of violent criminals coming to Idaho to profit from a black market that should not exist in a free society;

WHEREAS the prohibition of marijuana has had the effect opposite from that intended. We have hurt those we intended to help, by incarcerating marijuana users-ruining lives and tearing families apart. We have helped those we intended to hurt by creating a lucrative black market for those unscrupulous enough to deal in illegal drugs

BE IT RESOLVED that the price of marijuana be regulated by free market forces. The black market in this drug must be eliminated to provide a safer and more secure living environment for all Idahoans

BE IT RESOLVED that the state government should legalize marijuana and ensure the regulation and taxation of its production, distribution, and use, while enacting strict penalties for illegal trafficking, illegal importation and exportation, and impaired driving;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the state government should invest significant resources in prevention and education programs designed to promote awareness of the health risks and consequences of marijuana use and dependency, especially amongst youth;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the state government should work with the county and local governments of Idaho on a coordinated regulatory approach to marijuana which maintains significant state responsibility for marijuana control while respecting district health jurisdiction and particular county concerns and practices.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this Resolution be sent to the members of the Idaho

Republican State Central Committee, District 26 Republican legislators, and the

Governor.

Blaine County Republican Central Committee

Attest

Secretary County Chairman

Suzan Stommel, 788-9703 Scott Freeborn, 720-5959

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Think about it, Idaho . . .






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Seeya round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares"
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
 
 
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