CALDWELL -- A major pot bust on I-84 last night landed a 39-year-old Oregon man in jail, accused of felony trafficking. He was actually pulled over twice; the first time he was let go in Oregon because the suspect carried a medical marijuana card.
Idaho State Police accuse Justin Brownrigg, of Eugene, Oregon of bringing three duffel bags full of marijuana into Idaho. He was reportedly headed to Utah.
Suspect stopped twice by police before arrested
Brownrigg was first stopped by an Oregon State trooper on Wednesday. During the stop, the trooper smelled marijuana and questioned Brownrigg.
"[Brownrigg] advised and told the officer, 'Hey, I'm a medical marijuana... and I have marijuana in the car and it's under the prescribed amount in Oregon," Canyon County Prosecutor Bryan Taylor said. "The Oregon State trooper under Oregon law couldn't do anything, so he let him go.
The Oregon trooper alerted Idaho State Police. Once Brownrigg was near Caldwell on I-84, an officer says they saw Brownrigg speeding and stopped the car. Brownrigg again mentioned his medical marijuana card and having a small amount of marijuana. In Idaho, possessing any amount is illegal, so the officer searched the car.
"They ended up searching his vehicle and found 69 pounds of marijuana," Taylor said. "You don't carry around 69 pounds of marijuana with the plan of smoking it. You plan on selling it... Definitely not 'medicinal.'"
Prosecutor: Increased trafficking from states with legal medical marijuana
This case was one of ISP's largest seizures, though Canyon County Prosecutor Bryan Taylor says his office is seeing more and more cases of marijuana trafficking from neighboring states where medical marijuana is legal.
"In the last month we're starting to see a major increase in this particular issue. This is the sixth offense of very large quantities of marijuana, in which individuals are coming over from Oregon, saying that they're trying to hide under the card, under the umbrella of this medical marijuana," Taylor said.
Medical marijuana advocates weigh in
Advocates for legalizing medical marijuana in Idaho don't like seeing these cases; Lindsey Rinehart of Compassionate Idaho says it can hurt their case.
"When you have people trafficking under the guise of having medical marijuana and having that much at one time, that really doesn't look favorable for the medical community that is legitimately needing this," medical marijuana advocate Lindsey Rinehart said.
Compassionate Idaho is petitioning to get a medical marijuana initiative on the 2012 ballot. Rinehart believes a new law could cut dangerous marijuana trafficking operations while helping patients who want to use marijuana get it more safely.
"[Marijuana] is going to come through no matter what. Now, once it's regulated better, like to have dispensary systems where patients can do what they need to do to have that safe, legal access, well then you don't have somebody trafficking 69 pounds of marijuana because the demand on the black market diminishes," Rinehart said.
Rinehart says they need more than 47,000 petition signatures by April 30th to get medical marijuana on the ballot. So far, they have 2,000 verified signatures and more that need verification.
Last week Republican Representative Tom Trail of Moscow introduced a bill that would allow for the use of medical marijuana, with restrictions. The bill is now sitting in committee.
Tracking marijuana: 'It's very frustrating'
Taylor disagrees with legalizing marijuana for any purpose, and as the law stands now, he's ready to prosecute anyone bringing pot to Idaho, in cases like Brownrigg's. Canyon County prosecutors have charged him with felony trafficking marijuana which carries a mandatory prison sentence in Idaho.
The prosecutor also says having medical marijuana legal in border states is making investigation of marijuana trafficking more difficult because oftentimes Idaho officers aren't getting intelligence information they used to get from states like Oregon or California. "It's very frustrating," Taylor said.
