Pot Measures Would Widen Legal Chasm Between Northwest States

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By Jessica Robinson

Voters in both Oregon and Washington are considering measures this November that would legalize marijuana for recreational use. Photo courtesy DEA

Originally published on Fri October 26, 2012 4:49 pm

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Voters in both Oregon and Washington are considering measures this November that would legalize marijuana for recreational use. If they pass, the laws would further widen the legal gap with neighboring Idaho, where police worry about spillover.

Idaho State Police Major Kevin Hudgens just learned about the two measures to the west of his state. He says they concern him.

“Common sense tells me that I’m sure we’d see some of our residents going over to Oregon and Washington to purchase marijuana. So, we would likely see an increase in that.”

Hudgens says state troopers already pick up a lot of medical marijuana users crossing the border. In Idaho, medical marijuana is no different from any other kind of pot -- it’s all illegal.

“When I drive home and cross the Snake River, cross that border, I become a criminal,” says Serra Frank, founder of a group called Moms for Marijuana International.

Last year, she moved from her hometown of Boise to Portland, so she could legally get marijuana to treat a painful medical condition.

Frank doesn’t think legalizing recreational pot in Washington or Oregon would change use much in Idaho.

“I think it would be exactly the same," she says. "It’s available and people can get it. There’s a demand in Idaho and there will always be a supply -- whether it’s coming from out of state or being grown within our communities.”

Frank hopes a new law in Oregon or Washington would spur a political discussion in Idaho -- about whether the state should control the market for pot.

On the Web:

Video: Idaho Arrests Highlight Medical Marijuana Divide (AP)

Moms for Marijuana

Washington’s I-502

Oregon’s Measure 80