BOISE — Elisha Figueroa, administrator of the Idaho Office on Drug Policy, blamed the media Thursday for increased marijuana use in Idaho.

    “As you are aware, discussions of marijuana legalization are increasingly in the news,” Figueroa said during an agency budget presentation to the Idaho Legislature’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. “The continued portrayal in the media of marijuana use as harmless, fun, and even medicinal, is changing how youth view this dangerous, illicit drug. As a result, we are seeing increased (marijuana) use in Idaho.”

    Through ballot initiatives on Nov. 6, voters in Colorado and Washington made legal the recreational use of marijuana sold in amounts up to one ounce per adult.

    Figueroa said in an interview, however, that it’s difficult to gauge the actual impact of the new Washington marijuana law on citizens in neighboring Idaho.

    “What I can tell you anecdotally is that the youth of northern Idaho are telling us they don’t consider marijuana to be a drug anymore; that they see that it’s legal for their friends across the border,” Figueroa said. “And, so, what concerns us most about that is, if they don’t consider it dangerous, they’re more likely to use it.”

    Figueroa said the Office on Drug Policy plans to study the marijuana legalization issue in regard to its possible effects on Idahoans and may later recommend state policy changes.

    “It will just have to be determined based on what our findings are, as far as the impact,” she said.

Idaho law enforcement personnel, Figueroa said, are gathering information on the effects of marijuana laws in other states on Idaho.

    Figueroa said that burglary rates have increased near locations where marijuana is dispensed in Denver, Colo., and, “in medical marijuana states, they’re seeing increased drugged driving episodes.”

    She added: “So, we know that within those states that have these laws, there are some very real impacts. We’re trying to determine what impacts that it’s having on Idaho because we are surrounded by them.”