People
vote to make pot lowest police priority November 5,
2008 - Hawaii County
A measure to make marijuana the lowest enforcement
priority for the Hawaii County Police Department
has won the vote of the public.
In yesterday's 2008 general election, over
53 percent of the votes cast were in favor
of the Peaceful Sky initiative, which was
placed on the November ballot by a Hawaii
County Council vote in August.
According to language in the ordinance introduced
by council, the purpose of the article is
to "provide law enforcement more time
and resources to focus on more series crimes",
free up prison space and the court system,
and "reduce the fear of prosecution
and the stigma of criminality from non-violent
citizens who harmlessly cultivate and/or
use Cannabis for personal, medicinal, religious,
and recreational purposes."
38% of the voting public voted against the
measure. 8% of all Big Island voters left
the ballot question blank.
EDIT
note: The headline has been changed from
an earlier version "Marijuana decriminalized
on the Big Island", which may have
been misleading. The recent vote, experts
say, will not legally "decriminalize"
marijuana on the Big Island of Hawaii.
