“If a person, of his own free will, wants to
use marijuana, I question whether the
government has any propriety in telling
him he can’t.”
As recently as 2006, Otter reaffirmed this
position, saying:
“Some of these people, the only way they
can get relief is by smoking marijuana.”
But assuming the role of Idaho Governor
seems to have changed his values. Moneyed
interests, rather than commitment to freedom,
now guide Otter’s hand. Instead of making
history in Idaho, he abused the power of the
executive to protect the profits of cops and
Big Pharma.
“I don’t know what more I or senior members
of my administration could have done to help
legislators understand our strong opposition
to this legislation,” Otter wrote in his veto
message. “Both the House and Senate were
told by the Office of Drug Policy, the
Department of Public Welfare, and the Idaho
State Police—as well as prosecutors and local
law enforcement officers throughout Idaho—
that there were too many questions and
problems and too few answers and solutions
in this bill to let it become law.”
critical to their success at stealing from the
citizenry.
Lobbyists for law enforcement and
prosecuting attorneys peddled unproven
myths about the dangers of decriminalization
through Elisha Figueroa, director of the Idaho
Office of Drug Policy.
“Officially, the Office of Drug Policy is
tasked with “providing policy, education,
prevention and treatment resources” and
works toward “an Idaho free from the
devastating social, health and economic
consequences of substance abuse” by funding
anti-drug
initiatives
and
overseeing
substance abuse programs. Politically, the
office serves as a nexus for the various special
interests that favour the status quo of drug
prohibition in Idaho, giving them a special
place within the apparatus of state
government.”
This is also where Big Pharma stepped in.
The bill would have been among the most
restrictive in the country, only allowing
physicians to prescribe CBD extract to
patients with intractable epilepsy that don’t
respond to pharma medications.
Even such a minuscule amount of freedom is
too much for Idaho law enforcement, who see
only threats to their power and profits. Civil
asset forfeiture, or Policing for Profit, is an
insidious abuse of power where innocent
people have their cash and property stolen by
cops with often made-up suspicions of illicit
drug use.
Many states have abolished or limited civil
asset forfeiture, but Idaho cops have a strong
ally in the governor. Cannabis prohibition is
The pharmaceutical industry recognises the
threat medical cannabis poses to their
immense profits. As we have reported, people
are giving up prescription pills – especially
opioids – for cannabis in states with medical
use freedom.
Big Pharma’s efforts to maintain prohibition
are failing in other states, where their millions
have proved no match for the will of the
voters. But in Idaho, the pharma monopoly is
safe.