[Sativa]

If pro-marijuana advocate Ryan Davidson has his way, puffs of smoke in the Wood River Valley will be from more than just wildfires.

Davidson, a Garden City man who formerly lived in Bellevue, is trying to resurrect his three-year old campaign to legalize marijuana in some of the valley's municipalities. Specifically, the cities of Sun Valley and Hailey are on his hit list.

Davidson has initiated steps to try to get the issue on the ballots in those cities, perhaps as early as the general elections on Nov. 6.

As chairman of a group called Liberty Lobby of Idaho, Davidson has been embroiled in on-and-off legal battles with three of the valley's municipalities for the past three years. The various lawsuits started after Davidson filed prospective petitions in August 2004 to initiate referendum votes on legalizing marijuana in the cities of Sun Valley, Hailey and Ketchum.

All three cities denied his petitions on the constitutionality of the issue. Hailey further declined to process his petition because Davidson was not a resident of Hailey, a requirement that Davidson expects to be struck down in federal court.

His drive to legalize marijuana was given new life in September 2006 when the Idaho Supreme Court ruled that the city of Sun Valley did not have the right to determine the constitutionality of the issue, regardless of whether or not the proposed initiative appeared to be in violation of state or federal law.

The Supreme Court, in a precedent-setting decision, ruled that only the courts have the authority to determine the constitutionality of a referendum issue. However, if a referendum to legalize marijuana were passed in Idaho, it would likely be subject to litigation as it would be at odds with both state and federal law.



News Hawk- User http://www.420Magazine.com
Source: Idaho Mountain Express
Author: Terry Smith
Contact: http://www.mtexpress.com
Copyright: 2007 Express Publishing Inc.
Website: Marijuana advocate resurrects legalization campaign