The people have spoken, but mayor-elect Rick Davis thinks the passage earlier this month of marijuana reform initiatives will harm the city of Hailey.
"We definitely got national attention, but is that the kind of attention that is going to draw new business here? I don't think so," said Davis, a 16-year City Council veteran elected Hailey's mayor on Nov. 6.
Hailey voters approved three marijuana reform initiatives on election day: one to legalize medical use of marijuana, another to legalize industrial use of hemp and a third that would make enforcement of marijuana laws the city's lowest police priority.
The electorate voted down a fourth initiative that would have required the city to tax and regulate sales and use of marijuana and that may have paved the way for full legalization of the drug.
Davis said he especially objects to the medical marijuana issue.
"I guess what I think about it is what I have seen in other communities that have passed medical marijuana initiatives—that it is heavily, heavily abused by those who use if for other than medical purposes. I think it's dangerous."
The approved initiatives are not the law yet in the Hailey. In fact, the initiatives specify that a Community Oversight Committee be formed to hammer out the details of implementation.
City officials are drafting a statement that will outline how the city will deal with the matter.
City Clerk Heather Dawson said the statement is still being reviewed by City Attorney Ned Williamson and likely won't be available until next week.
"There are some options that are being investigated," said Davis. "I'm not an liberty to go into them now and we'll just have to see how it works out. It's a very, very complex issue and there are a lot of issues that haven't yet come to light that show the negative ramifications."
Davis said he expects the initiatives to be costly for the city.
"There's going to be litigation and the citizens of Hailey are going to have to pay for it one way or another," he said. "It's still illegal federally and statewide and I just don't know how it's going to shake out."
