Washington's marijuana law hurts Idaho police recruitment

LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) — Idaho police say Washington State's decision to legalize marijuana is hurting its law enforcement recruitment efforts.

KLEW-TV reports that the Lewiston Police Department is having trouble finding people who have clean records when it comes to marijuana.

Lewiston Police Sgt. Jeff Klone says anyone who has used marijuana in the past three years can't be certified in the state and the department can't hire them. Klone says many of the dispatcher candidates failed background investigations that showed they used marijuana in the past year.

Klone says even though they want to hire those people, they can't because of the rules.

He says marijuana is legal in other states, but it's still illegal in Idaho. That means the person can't be a certified police officer in Idaho.