The people of Hailey, Idaho, find as follows:
WHEREAS a scientific survey conducted in 1990 by Harvard University researchers found that fifty four percent (54%) of oncologists with an opinion favored the controlled medical availability of marijuana, and forty four percent (44%) had already suggested at least once that a patient obtain marijuana illegally 3 ; and
WHEREAS tens of thousands of patients nationwide - people with AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, chronic pain, and multiple sclerosis - have found marijuana in its natural form to be therapeutically beneficial 4 and are already using it with their doctors' approval; and
WHEREAS numerous organizations have endorsed medical access to marijuana, including the AIDS Action Council, American Nurses Association, American Academy Of HIV Medicine, American Bar Association, American Medical Student Association, American Preventive Medical Association, American Public Health Association, California Academy Of Family Physicians, California Legislative Council For Older Americans, California Medical Association, California Nurses Association, California-Pacific Society Of Addiction Medicine, Florida Medical Association, Gray Panthers, Lymphoma Foundation Of America, Multiple Sclerosis California Action Network, National Association For Public Health Policy, National Association Of Attorneys General, National Association Of People With AIDS, National Black Police Association, National Women's Health Network, New York State Nurses Association, Public Citizen, Virginia Nurses Association, Whitman-Walker Clinic (Washington, D.C.), Women Of Reform Judaism; and
WHEREAS a scientific survey conducted in 1995 by Belden & Russonello (a Washington, D.C. based polling firm) indicated seventy nine percent (79%) of U.S. voters support the idea of "legalize(ing) marijuana to relieve pain and for other medical uses if prescribed by a doctor" 5 ; and
WHEREAS national public opinion polls conducted by ABC news, CBS news, the Family Research Council, and the Gallup Organization between 1997 and 1999 found substantial support for medical marijuana 6 ; and
WHEREAS since 1996, medical marijuana initiatives received a majority of votes in every state in which they appeared on the ballot: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, the District Of Columbia, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington state 7 ; and
WHEREAS on June 14, 2000, Governor Ben Cayetano of Hawaii signed into law the first medical marijuana bill enacted via a state legislature which permits the cultivation, possession, and use of medical marijuana; and
WHEREAS on September 6, 1988, after reviewing all available medical data, the drug enforcement administration's chief administrative law judge, Francis L. Young, declared that marijuana is "one of the safest therapeutically active substances known" and recommended making marijuana available by prescription 8 ; and
WHEREAS the federal penalty for possessing one marijuana cigarette "even for medical use" is up to one year in prison, and the penalty for growing one plant is up to five (5) years 9 ; and
WHEREAS the penalties are similar in most states, where medical marijuana users must live in fear of being arrested; and
WHEREAS the present federal classification of marijuana 10 and the resulting bureaucratic controls impede additional scientific research into marijuana's therapeutic potential 11 , thereby making it nearly impossible for the food and drug administration to evaluate and approve marijuana through standard procedural channels; and
WHEREAS seriously ill people should not be punished for acting in accordance with the opinion of their physicians in a bona fide attempt to relieve suffering; and
WHEREAS the state of Idaho has no mandate under the constitution to outlaw medical marijuana and would therefore be subordinate to the will of the people as expressed through the initiative process and guaranteed by article I, section 2 of the Idaho constitution;
THEREFORE the people of the city of Hailey do hereby enact the following chapter establishing the medical marijuana policy in the city. (1992 Code § 11.04.020)
Notes
| 1 | 1. "The Medical Value Of Marijuana And Related Substances", chapter 4 of the Institute Of Medicine's marijuana and medicine: assessing the science base (Washington: National Academy Press, 1999), lists 198 references in its analysis of marijuana's medical uses. |
| 2 | 2. From principal investigator Dr. John Benson's opening remarks at the Institute Of Medicine's news conferences releasing the report marijuana and medicine: assessing the science base (March 17, 1999). |
| 3 | 3. R. Doblin and M. Kleiman, "Marijuana As Antiemetic Medicine", Journal Of Clinical Oncology 9 (1991): 1314-1319. |
| 4 | 4. The therapeutic value of marijuana is supported by existing research and experience. For example, the following statement appeared in the American Medical Association's "Council On Scientific Affairs Report 10 - Medicinal Marijuana", adopted by the AMA house of delegates on December 9, 1997: *"Smoked marijuana was comparable to or more effective than oral THC, and considerably more effective than prochlorperazine or other previous antiemetics in reducing nausea and emesis". (page 10) *"Anecdotal, Survey, And Clinical Data Support The View That Smoked Marijuana And Oral THC Provide Symptomatic Relief In Some Patients With Spasticity Associated With Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Or Trauma". (page 13) *"Smoked Marijuana May Benefit Individual Patients Suffering From Intermittent Or Chronic Pain". (page 15) |
| 5 | 1. Belden & Russonello interviewed 1,001 registered voters, selected by a national random digit dial survey, on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, which released the results via its department of public education on November 27, 1995. |
| 6 | 2. ABC news/Discovery news (69% support medical marijuana, poll conducted May 27, 1997, by Chilton Research); CBS news (66% of Independent respondents, 64% of Democrat respondents, and 57% of Republican respondents support medical marijuana, poll reported in The New York Times, June 15, 1997); Family Research Council (74% support medical marijuana, poll conducted spring 1997); Gallup (73% support medical marijuana, poll conducted March 19-21, 1999). |
| 7 | 1. Alaska, measure 8, November 1998, received 58% of the vote; Arizona, proposition 200, November 1996, received 65% of the vote; Arizona, proposition 300, November 1998, rejected by 57% of the vote by rejecting proposition 300 (voters upheld the medical marijuana provision in 1996's proposition 200); California, proposition 215, November 1996, received 56% of the vote; Colorado, amendment 20, November 2000, received 54% of the vote; District of Columbia, initiative 59, November 1998, received 69% of the vote; Maine, question 2, November 1999, received 61% of the vote; Nevada, question 9, November 2000, received 65% of the vote; Oregon, measure 67, November 1998, received 55% of the vote; Washington, initiative 692, November 1998, received 59% of the vote. |
| 8 | 2. U.S. department of justice, drug enforcement administration. "In The Matter Of Marijuana Rescheduling Petition, Docket No. 86-22, Opinion And Recommended Ruling, Findings Of Fact, Conclusions Of Law And Decision Of Administrative Law Judge", Francis L. Young, administrative law judge, September 6, 1988. |
| 9 | 3. Sections 844(a) and 841(b)(1)(D), respectively, of title 21, United States Code. |
| 10 | 4. Section 812(c) of title 21, United States Code. |
| 11 | 5. The U.S. department of health and human services (HHS) issued written guidelines for medical marijuana research, effective December 1, 1999. The guidelines drew criticism from a coalition of medical groups, scientists, members of congress, celebrities, and concerned citizens. The coalition called the guidelines "too cumbersome" and urged their modification in a letter to HHS secretary Donna Shalala, dated November 29, 1999. Signatories of the letter included 33 members of congress, former surgeon general Joycelyn Elders, and hundreds of patients, doctors, and medical organizations. |