Latest news with #Kitzhaber
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Will Idaho legalize medical marijuana? State lawmakers open discussion
Jeremy Kitzhaber speaks to the Idaho House Health and Welfare Committee to advocate for medical marijuana. He previously served in the U.S. Air Force as a civil engineer and first sergeant. He has stage four cancer, which he developed while transporting radioactive materials in the military. In the blue bag to his right, he stores opioids, anti-anxiety medication and Narcan. (Photo by Mia Maldonado/Idaho Capital Sun) Jeremy Kitzhaber, a U.S. Air Force veteran, held up a blue lunch bag to a committee of Idaho lawmakers on Monday which he uses to store the drugs meant to soothe his pain, including hydrocodone, morphine and oxycodone. Kitzhaber has a rare type of stage four cancer that he developed while transporting radioactive and hazardous materials in the military. He can take those strong opioids at any point in the day — in addition to the drugs he takes to keep his cancer from growing and manage his bowel and anxiety. However, the one drug he cannot legally take is marijuana. Idaho has some of the strictest laws against any kind of marijuana usage, but an informational hearing held in the Idaho House Health and Welfare Committee opened the discussion for Kitzhaber to advocate for a bill to legalize medical marijuana for Idahoans living with chronic pain and answer lawmakers' questions about what legalizing marijuana would look like in Idaho. Kitzhaber has been working on legislation to legalize marijuana for six years, and this year, Reps. Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, and Jordan Redman, R-Coeur d'Alene, named House Bill 401, or the 'Sergeant Kitzhaber Medical Cannabis Act,' after him. The sponsors introduced it as a personal bill, meaning it has no chance of advancing this session and is intended to send a message. Unique to most of its neighboring states, marijuana is recreationally and medically illegal in Idaho. During the 2025 legislative session alone, lawmakers passed at least two pieces of legislation aimed to restrict marijuana usage in Idaho. This includes a bill signed by the governor and set to take effect July 1 to implement a $300 minimum fine for individuals found possessing less than three ounces marijuana. Another piece of legislation passed in both chambers is a proposed amendment to the Idaho Constitution that, if approved by voters, would make it so that only the Idaho Legislature has the power to legalize marijuana and other narcotics. House Bill 401 is modeled after Utah's legislation, Rubel told the committee, who said Idaho lawmakers should at some point consider this type of legislation. The bill would move marijuana from a schedule 1 drug to a schedule 2 controlled substance. It would allow medical practitioners to give medical cannabis cards to patients who are at least 21 years old and diagnosed with qualifying conditions such as cancer, ALS, AIDS, Crohn's disease, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and other debilitating illnesses. The card would be valid for up to one year, and renewal must be sought after. Under the bill, individuals with medical cannabis cards would not be subject to prosecution for certain amounts of marijuana possession. 'The bill does not legalize cannabis, it only decriminalizes it,' Kitzhaber said. Rep. Rob Beiswenger, R-Horseshoe Bend, asked Kitzhaber how the bill addresses preventing the smell of marijuana from reaching the public. Kitzhaber said it would be illegal to use medical marijuana in public, and users who violate the policy once would lose their card. Kitzhaber has gone through 150 rounds of cancer treatment and eight different types. His monthly treatment and medicine costs $17,000, he said. He's tried marijuana in states where it is legal, and he said it helped him sleep. It is safer and less expensive than the opioids he takes now, he said. Allowing medical marijuana would help him and other veterans with similar conditions, he told the committee, but Kitzhaber said he does not risk using it in Idaho because it would put his veteran benefits at risk. 'I have an exemplary military career. I don't have a criminal record, and I don't want one for something like this,' Kitzhaber said. This article was first published by the Idaho Capital Sun, part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Kitzhaber, Kulongoski lend voice to Momnibus Bill
SALEM, Ore. (KOIN) — A push to get state funding to help the estimated quarter-million pre-school children and their families with everything from child care to early education got a big boost at the Capitol Monday from community leaders and former Oregon governors. The nonprofit brought together several groups that will lobby lawmakers to put more money into health care, including mental health support, early childhood education and special education for little ones. Momnibus Bill in Oregon aims to help pregnant families, kids Among those lobbying for the money were former Oregon governors John Kitzhaber, 77, and 84-year-old Ted Kulongoski. Their message is that by helping young families now bigger problems will be avoided later. Kitzhaber, who is a doctor, said it's not a criticism of education or healthcare but rather its lack of investment in preventing problems that those systems deal with. 'The legislature has a chance to fund acute crises rather than investments that can prevent those crises in the first place,' Kitzhaber said. 'Listen to the loud and powerful voices of the education lobby and the healthcare lobby over the tens of thousands of voices of children whose futures are being unnecessarily compromised.' They plan to push for a bill by Portland lawmaker and pediatrician Lisa Reynolds — known as the — that would fund programs to help with many problems some families face during pregnancy and a child's first year of life, from stable housing to mental illness. A big push in the Oregon legislature is from early childhood advocates to get money for subsidized child care. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Idaho bill to implement minimum fine for marijuana possession heads to Senate floor
Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, speaks to the House State Affairs committee at the Idaho State Capitol building on Jan. 11, 2023. (Otto Kitsinger for Idaho Capital Sun) A bill to implement a $300 minimum fine for adults convicted of possessing three ounces or less of marijuana is headed to the Idaho Senate floor for a vote. The Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee on Monday voted to advance House Bill 7 to the Senate floor, putting it one step closer to becoming law after already passing the Idaho House last week in a 54-14 vote. The committee voted along party lines, with its two Democrats, Sen. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, and Sen. James Ruchti, D-Pocatello, voting against it. Its sponsor, Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, said Idaho remains one of the states with the strictest laws against marijuana usage, and a mandatory minimum fine for small amounts of marijuana would work as a deterrent for its usage. 'A $300 fine is not too much if you can afford to buy this marijuana and concentrate,' Skaug said. 'Every dollar spent on pot by someone is not spent on food, clothing, school supplies, real medicine or housing.' The committee advanced the bill with a recommendation that it pass. House Bill 7 may be voted on by the Idaho Senate in the coming days or weeks. Fourteen people testified before the committee, most of whom supported the bill — including representatives from law enforcement and conservative groups such as the Idaho Freedom Foundation and the Idaho Family Policy Center. Ada County Sheriff Matt Clifford spoke in favor of the legislation, sharing that he believes a $300 minimum fine will remind people from outside of Idaho that possessing marijuana in the Gem State will have more repercussions. 'Now we have surrounding states that have legalized marijuana in some form or fashion,' Clifford said. 'I think if we're going to keep taking the stance that we're hard on illegal drugs, we probably need to up our game a little bit, and this is a good way to do that.' Other testimony came from advocates for medical marijuana, who voiced their opposition to the bill. This includes Jeremy Kitzhaber, a veteran who is disabled who previously served in the U.S. Air Force as a civil engineer and first sergeant. Kitzhaber has consistently opposed this legislation, arguing it would harm his fellow veteran community. 'This bill would say that an edible gummy is a minimum fine, yet drunk driving, exposing yourself in public or even smacking your spouse, would still not impose a minimum fine,' Kitzhaber told the committee. Dr. Mark McConnell, a critical care physician who works with veterans in Boise, also spoke in opposition to the bill. McConnell said at least 30% of the clients he admits to the hospital regularly use marijuana. Physicians cannot prescribe medical marijuana to patients in Idaho, McConnell said, so patients are forced to break the law to access medical marijuana, even though it is a safer alternative to opioids and Valium. 'I understand the political realities of politicians appearing tough on crime, but I believe that you will be hurting the wrong people if you pass this legislation. My veterans will suffer because of this legislation,' McConnell said. Sen. Dan Foreman, R-Viola, pushed back against the medical marijuana arguments. 'I'm not unsympathetic to people who have medical issues and find some relief with marijuana, but as a retired police officer, I too have seen the effects of marijuana,' Foreman said. 'It's bad business. We need to do whatever we can to keep it out of our great state.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
