Marijuana possession bill moves forward

BOISE — After two hours of testimony, a House committee voted to send to the floor a bill creating a mandatory minimum fine of $300 for possession of marijuana, less than 3 ounces.

The House Judiciary and Rules Committee on Wednesday voted 10-4 to send HB 7 to the full House for a full vote, after another motion to kill the bill failed narrowly in a 6-8 vote.

Two combat veterans with severe health issues from the group Kind Idaho — which advocates for the legalization of medical marijuana — spoke against the bill, saying that use of cannabis helps manage their pain and symptoms without the use of addictive opioids. Other people with Kind Idaho also opposed it, as did criminal defense lawyers.

Members of law enforcement, the Idaho Republican Party, conservative think tank Idaho Freedom Foundation, and the Christian policy organization the Idaho Family Policy Center all supported the bill as a way to deter use of drugs.

Reps. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, and Jordan Redman, R-Coeur d’Alene, sponsored the bill, which would not apply to minors younger than age 18.

“I do not want to be in the state of Idaho and we fail to penalize crimes that are illegal,” Redman said Wednesday. “Idaho is a state of law and order, and it’s been said, a law without consequences is simply a suggestion.”

In existing Idaho law, it is a felony to possess more than 3 ounces of marijuana, punishable by up to five years in prison, or up to a $10,000 fine, or both. Possession of less than 3 ounces is a misdemeanor crime with a fine up to $1,000 and no set minimum. Misdemeanor possession in which a judge orders probation as a sentence also comes with a required 100 hours of community service.

Jeremy Kitzhaber, from Ada County, said he is an Air Force veteran with stage 4, incurable cancer.

“For the last 11 years, I’ve done about 150 rounds of treatments,” Kitzhaber said. “Throughout those 11 years, my oncology team has told me plenty of times that if they could legally allow me to use medical cannabis, they would, and it would be beneficial for my circumstances, especially as I was hanging on by a thread when I had chemotherapy.”

He said because he is “constantly uncomfortable” and in pain, he is prescribed three different types of opioids, which are all “risky” but legal in Idaho.

Fred Birnbaum, director of legislative affairs at the Idaho Freedom Foundation, said that although the IFF rated the bill “neutrally,” he wanted to speak in favor of it.

“We all feel terrible for what Sgt. Kitzhaber has been through, but I think we should return in part to the four corners of this bill, and what this bill is a clarification,” Birnbaum said. “So there’s a legitimate debate to be had about the appropriateness of (medical) marijuana or not, this bill doesn’t address that.”

He and others who spoke in favor of it said the mandatory minimum would act as a deterrent.

Paul Riggins, vice president of the Idaho Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, argued there’s significant research showing mandatory minimum sentences do not deter crime. He opposed the bill because it would take away judicial discretion to rule in individual cases.

“Mandatory minimums eliminate individual justice, they apply a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all approach in sentencing,” Riggins said. “That is not justice. That is not fairness.”

Caldwell Police Chief Rex Ingram, president of the Idaho Chiefs of Police Association, spoke in favor of the bill, arguing that it “sets a tone.” Nampa Police Lt. Jason Kimball also spoke in favor, arguing it could deter use by young people. He also said weed was a “gateway drug” that could lead to more serious drugs, like fentanyl.

According to the Centers for Disease and Prevention, there is limited evidence that using cannabis increases the risk of using other drugs.

Testifiers and lawmakers on the committee underscored that almost no other misdemeanor crimes in Idaho come with a mandatory minimum penalty, including battery, sexual battery, attempted strangulation, and misdemeanor driving under the influence.

“I think you’d have a really hard time making the case to anybody on the street that we should have a tougher penalty for smoking a joint in your own backyard than you should have for attempted strangulation or DUI,” House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, said. “But that’s what this bill would accomplish today.”

Rep. Dan Garner, R-Clifton, made a motion to hold the bill in committee, saying while he was against the use of drugs, he did not want to take away judges’ ability to impose a penalty that they thought was appropriate for the situation. Republican Reps. Heather Scott, Blanchard, and Barbara Ehardt, Idaho Falls, supported Garner’s motion for similar reasons.

Rep. John Shirts, R-Weiser, said judges would still have discretion to impose fines between $300 and up to $1,000, which is the current statutory maximum for a misdemeanor fine.

Skaug has said he was asked to bring the bill by an Idaho magistrate judge and in part because he learned other judge were imposing fines as little as $2.50.

A Weiser Signal American article from March 2024 was included in the committee’s packet materials about people who received $2.50 fines, and additionally were sentenced to multiple days in jail, a year of probation, and had to pay more than $400 in other court costs.

Rep. John Gannon, D-Boise, highlighted these other penalties.

“I think it raises the question as to whether we should be considering any increase in a fine based on the way this judge chooses to implement punishment, very, very serious punishment for a possession of marijuana,” Gannon said.

Scott and Ehardt joined the committee Democrats in voting to hold the bill, but later voted to send it to the floor after the previous motion died.

HB 7 will later be heard and debated by the full House.

Guido covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Idaho Press of Nampa. She may be contacted at lguido@idahopress.com and can be found on Twitter @EyeOnBoiseGuido.