Legalization of Medical Marijuana on the Hawaii Ballot

Here in Hawaii County we have a statute on the books that requires referendum elections on anything for which its supporters can garner 5,000 or more names on a petition.
One of our grassroots groups did just that. There will be a proposition on the ballot in November proposing that the police be required to make possession of 24 or less plants or 24 or less ounces of marijuana on private property the lowest possible enforcement priority.
Of course the local police who handle marijuana investigations immediately decried the idea.
Their reasoning?

"The proposed ballot measure basically tells police to ignore arresting someone for marijuana possession."

Well, yeah. That's the idea. They simply don't want their kuliana (territory, business, one's bread and butter, etc) taken away.

When asked if the DEA would increase their effors to enforce federal law relating to marijuana here, the DEA representative responded, "That question gets into the means and methods of the DEA, which is another place we won't go for obvious reasons."

Those obvious reasons also have created a no-oversight, above -the-law DEA mentality of arrogance of power. For instance, the surveillance no-search-warrant helicopters are required by law to remain at or above 1000 feet altitude or more above ground level. Various watchdog groups have many photos and eyewitness accounts of the helicopters flying at treetop level or even lower, landing on public roadways, and on one occasion, making an emergency landing in a school yard. That turned out to be another area where the DEA 'does not 'want to go.' They refuse to comment publicly on accidents or other debacles in which they've been involved. One day in 1991 I witnessed a crash landing of a Green Harvets helicopter in the Honuanau valley. I remember lookign through the newspaper next day for a story on the happening. Nothing, nada. I have also personally witnessed the helicopters flying at or below treetop level around my neighborhood on several occasions.
The latest dustup over Green Harvest (surveillance helicopters searching people's backyards, etc) occurred when the Hawaii County Council voted earlier this year not to accept further federal funding for the pogrom(sic), citing widspread public disdain for the program and the drain it causes on county budgetary and law enforcement resources. It is common knowledge that we have real pressing matters to which we need attend such as hospitals, education; dealing with real crimes, including robberies, rape, domestic violence, and not least, the crystal methamphetamine epidemic~ which, by the way, many people here think has been exacerbated by 24 years of draconian marijuana eradication via the helicopters.
Our local DEA response to that action? They went strong-arm, stating publicly that if the county indeed refuses to play along, the DEA will come in and run the program themselves, deputizing local law enforcement without consent. They also threatened to arrest medical growers here who's activities are legal by Hawaii state law.
On a related note, I find it ironic that the current regime in Washington has repeatedly come down on the side of the DEA in states where medical marijuana has been legalized, claiming federal law supercedes state law.
But what happened when South Dakota passed an anti-aborion law which includes not allowing abortion for underage rape victims or even incest victims?
In spite of Roe vs, Wade, the bush/cheney regime cried, "States rights!"
What hypocracy. It will be interesting to see how this will play out in November, if we will still be having elections in this country by then.