• Home
  • News
    • Politics & Government
    • Business & Economy
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
  • Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Radio Iowa Poll
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support Page
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters

Radio Iowa

Iowa's Radio News Network

You are here: Home / Crime / Courts / Panel dismisses ethics complaint against legislator who got Rx for pot

Panel dismisses ethics complaint against legislator who got Rx for pot

February 16, 2011 By O. Kay Henderson

The House Ethics Committee has dismissed a complaint filed against a legislator who broke California law when he lied about a medical condition so he could get a prescription for “medical marijuana.”

Representative Clel Baudler, a Republican from Greenfield, is a retired state trooper who has said it was a “fact finding mission” to illustrate how “asinine” the California system is.  Mike Pesce of Des Moines, an advocate of medical marijuana, filed the complaint.

“I thought, pretty much 50/50, it would either be dismissed today or they would take it to the next step.  I was trying to be a realist about it,” Pesce says. 

The six members of the House Ethics Committee unanimously dismissed Pesce’s complaint, saying Baudler’s actions did not fall within the committee’s jurisdiction.  Representative Dan Kelly, a Democrat from Newton, seemed to lecture Pesce at the end of the committee’s brief meeting.

“I believe that this committee should not be used as a forum by anyone in furtherance or opposition to a controversial policy issue,” Kelly said, reading from a prepared statement.

Representative Baudler told the California doctor he needed to smoke marijuana because he was suffering from hemmorrhoids and depression, but Baudler never filled the prescription for pot.

Representative Scott Raecker, a Republican from Urbandale, was the committee member who moved to dismiss the ethics complaint against Baudler because Baudler had not violated House Rules, the House Code of Ethics or the state’s so-called “gift law” which bars legislators from accepting food or drink that’s worth more than $2.99.

“The issue today was whether this complaint was valid,” Raecker said immediately after the meeting. “And it was not a valid complaint.”

Raecker, the executive director of a group called “Character Counts,” was asked by a reporter when it’s permissible for an Iowa legislator to break laws in other states.

“I can only speak for myself.  I think we should be very cautious about what we do here or in other places across the country,” Raecker said. “And I do think that public servants are held up to a higher level of scrutiny.”

Baudler did not appear at today’s meeting.  Baudler filed a six-sentence written response last week, saying the complaint Pesce filed failed to list “any statue or rule under the jurisdiction of the House Ethics Committee.”

Listen to the entire meeting here: Baudler Ethics 5:15 MP3

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Crime / Courts, Politics / Govt Tagged With: Democratic Party, Drugs, Legislature, Republican Party

Featured Stories

DOT plow crews struggling against blizzard conditions

Iowa delegation breaks along party lines on Trump impeachment vote

Two northeast Iowa men admit to illegally harvesting ginseng

Do you have to pay tax on your stimulus check?

All six in Iowa’s congressional delegation confirm Electoral College results

TwitterFacebook
Tweets by RadioIowa

Iowa State-Kansas postponed

Iowa-Michigan State postponed

Fire damage to Riverfront Stadium electrical system will cost Waterloo thousands

Iowa State at Kansas State postponed

Iowa State’s Foster to miss remainder of the season

More Sports

eNews and Updates

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Archives

Copyright © 2021 · Learfield News & Ag, LLC