Less than 90 days to LEGAL, AK! Anyone steering this thing?

elkamino

elkamino

Well-Known Member
Just read in yesterday's ADN that the ballot language has been certified and we're legal Feb 24. bongsmilie

I want Alaska's program to be as efficient, practical and safe as possible. Does anyone know of organizations working to steer this thing in the right direction? I've got some time and motivation to work on this thing.

Unfortunately there's a fly in the ointment.:roll:

Again in ADN, Eagle River Assembly member and mayoral candidate Amy Demboski "plans to introduce an ordinance Tuesday that, if passed, would ban commercial marijuana establishments in Alaska’s largest city." Yes less than a month after the election she's trying to undermine the will of the voters.:finger:

She apparently is trying to save us from ourselves and will undoubtedly argue that we didn't know what we were voting for, what with concentrates and all (as if uber potent hash hasn't been smoked since... um... forever.) :wall:

On the other hand perhaps she's thinking that Mat-Su should see all tax revenues generated in the newly-legal but already well-established industry.:shock:

Or maybe she's afraid of Satan, and the god-given Devil Weed. :o

Or maybe she averse to capitalism, and just can't stand to see Alaskan businessmen and women grow useful, beautiful flowers locally.:weed:

Regardless of her reasoning she's full of horseshit and her fellow assemblymates need to hear from those of us with something useful to say. I've never been very active politically and am not really sure how it all works, but I believe the first time to have our voices heard locally is here:

Regular Assembly Meeting
FROM 5:00 PM TO 11:00 PM
Z.J. Loussac Library
Assembly Chambers
3600 Denali Street

I also heard of a "public meeting" before that on this issue but can't track that down...

Really though, I'd like to get beyond Dembowski's Mother Hen-ing here at the local level, and instead get to focusing on state-level implementation. Like get regulators to adopt something more like CO's model, and less like WA's.

Thoughts? Opinions? Anyone know where I can get more info on affecting the rule-making process? Thanks.:blsmoke::blsmoke::blsmoke:
 
mudballs

mudballs

Well-Known Member
best advice i got is you should go to those city council meetings.citizens have a brief moment to speak and that's your chance to make her look stupid.it's gas money and time that's all these politicians do.nobody else is willing so that's why they have the say in matters.squeeky wheel gets the grease.good luck
 
nvhak49

nvhak49

Well-Known Member
Yeah I can't believe she's trying to do that. It will suck big time if she gets it passed and the mat-su gets to sell it legally and get all the tax revenue.
 
elkamino

elkamino

Well-Known Member
According to KSKA, Demboski's ordinance will have a public hearing during the Assembly’s regular meeting on December 16th.

Anchorage Assembly Member Pushes For Pot Ban In Municipality
By Zach Hughes, KSKA - Anchorage | December 1, 2014

The Anchorage Municipality may use its leverage as the state’s population center to influence how laws on commercial marijuana take shape in the year ahead.

Anchorage Assembly member Amy Demboski is behind a proposed ordinance that would ban the sale and cultivation of marijuana in the city. Nation-wide pot is in legal limbo: voters in states and cities are opting for legalization, but the at the federal level it’s still a controlled substance. Those inconsistencies could get very tangled when it comes to entities like banks and highways, which operate locally but have federal standards. Like, say, if you use a federal highway to deposit cash you made selling commercial marijuana, are you or your bank breaking federal laws on money laundering and illegal transport? See how quickly this get’s tricky?

Demboski believes its prudent to let other communities in Alaska test the waters on commercialization first:

“To me this is just a wait-and-see approach. In no way is this advocating for a ban on personal use of marijuana at all,” Demboski said. “All I’m saying is before we get into a commercialized industry that’s still federally illegal, we need to understand and make sure there’s no federal impacts when it comes to millions of dollars in transportation dollars.”

Because of its population, Anchorage is the largest potential market in the state for regulated marijuana, and Demboski thinks leveraging that influence can help residents and the city set better terms in the implementation phase.

“I think by opting out now what it does is it gives the citizens of Anchorage the opportunity to really be a loud voice in the development of these regulations,” Demboski said. “I think you’ll see the marijuana industry, I think you’ll see the state regulators come to the city of Anchorage and say ‘what is it you’re concerned about’ as we move forward, and ‘what is it that Anchorage needs in order to move forward with this potential industry.’”

But not everyone agrees that a local ban is a wise strategy. Proponents of the Ballot 2 initiative that passed this November say Demboski’s ordinance ignores the will of the majority of voters.

“For the Anchorage Assembly to consider opting out now is, we think, irresponsible and wildly premature,” Demboski said.

Bruce Schulte is spokesman for the Coalition for Responsible Cannabis Legislation. Given that under the state’s timeline for implementation it will be another 15 months before commercial terms are set and permits accepted, no one knows yet what the rules will look like.

“Because those governing bodies have no more information to work from than the voters did on November 4th,” Schulte said.

Schulte and his organization are not pushing for every community in the state to allow pot. He says Ballot Measure 2 specifically includes the option for local bans, the same way many communities across Alaska have voted to go dry or damp. But Schulte says what’s at stake is making an informed decision on what exactly is being banned, and what “wait-and-see” actually means.

“Local communities have the option to opt out, and it’s expected that some will. If they feel that marijuana is overly burdensome, well they have that right,” Schulte said. “As does the municipality of Anchorage. We just feel that it’s irresponsible to do so now. We think the prudent this is do is wait and see what the state-wide regulations look like before making that determination.”

Demboski’s ordinance, which is co-sponsored by Assembly member Dick Traini, will have a public hearing during the Assembly’s regular meeting on December 16th.
 
elkamino

elkamino

Well-Known Member
Despite election, the debate continues in Fairbanks over legal marijuana
Dermot Cole
December 2, 2014
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FAIRBANKS -- The election is finished, but the debate over legalized marijuana remains as contentious as ever.

About 20 local elected officials from the three governments in the Fairbanks area spent Tuesday night hearing arguments for and against allowing commercial marijuana establishments.

No legislators attended the session, an absence noted by Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Luke Hopkins.



“I don’t think any of us are sure what the state Legislature is going to do, how they’re going to move into this,” Hopkins said.

He said he plans to present a zoning ordinance to the borough assembly to address how marijuana establishments might be regulated on the local level, where they would be allowed and what standards would be set.

“I don’t see a moratorium action coming forward, not by me,” said Hopkins. “I don’t think that’s the right move.”

About 100 people attended the session at the Pioneer Park civic center, organized by the borough and the cities of Fairbanks and North Pole.

Local mayors, assembly members and council members heard the same range of opinions about the use of marijuana that aired in debates across the state before voters adopted Ballot Measure 2 by a 53 percent majority Nov. 4.

While some argued that the initiative is a long-overdue end to prohibition, others called on the borough to use powers granted under the initiative for local governments to prohibit commercial marijuana establishments.

Longtime Fairbanksan Eric Muehling said it is reasonable to have zoning regulations. “Let’s regulate it no differently than we do alcohol,” he said.

Frank Oxman said the three local governments need to be in alignment with their rules to prevent chaos.

“I think you guys are all smart enough to put together a program that will be beneficial to answer what the public asked for,” he said.

Some speakers said there are many people who want to get into the marijuana business that have the creativity to do it correctly and make a living.

Jeff Jessee, chief executive officer of the Alaska Mental Health Trust, said the initiative will not encourage small business. He said it keeps the sale of small amounts of marijuana a crime. The Legislature should amend the law to allow the sale of small amounts to prevent the development of an industry devoted to promoting marijuana use, he said.

“The irony of this proposition is it creates a large-scale government-regulated and taxed industry from which Alaskans must purchase their marijuana,” he said.
 
elkamino

elkamino

Well-Known Member
Legislators prepare for marijuana regulation
By Alexandra Gutierrez, APRN - Anchorage
Posted on December 4, 2014 at 5:20 am
http://www.ktoo.org/2014/12/04/legislators-prepare-marijuana-regulation/

With an initiative to treat marijuana like alcohol now certified, lawmakers are preparing for the issue to come up this legislative session.

Sen. Lesil McGuire, an Anchorage Republican who will chair the Senate Judiciary Committee, commissioned alegislative report examining the costs and logistics of marijuana implementation. It lays out what authority the Legislature has when regulating the drug, and includes an estimate that the state will net between zero and $3 million from marijuana commercialization in the first year. As regulation costs go down and the marijuana industry matures, sale of the drug is expected to bring in over $20 million in annual tax revenue by 2020.

When it comes to marijuana legislation, McGuire says the number one goal for her is to “implement the voters’ will.”

“The idea that the Legislature would come in and try to subvert the public will, in my opinion, is off the table,” says McGuire.

The marijuana initiative stipulates that the Legislature can create a body like the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board to regulate the sale of the drug. If the Legislature does nothing, the alcohol board could end up responsible for marijuana.

McGuire plans to file a bill that would allow the substances to be managed separately.

“For one, ABC is overburdened as it is. They have a lot of issues that they’re already taking on as a board,” says McGuire. “And number 2, there is a perceived conflict of interest.”

McGuire says the marijuana and beverage industries could end up competing, which would make it harder for them them be regulated by the same group.

McGuire, who voted for the initiative, says her bill may regulate marijuana advertising and drug safety issues. She also plans to look at the interplay between state and federal law.

“I think this is going to be the most challenging issue we will have to face,” says McGuire. “It’s still illegal under federal law to consume marijuana. So what happens when someone who lives in rural Alaska is transporting that marijuana via their boat?”

In the House, Anchorage Republican Bob Lynn has already announced he plans to file a bill preventing marijuana retailers from operating near schools, churches, and parks. McGuire says multiple marijuana bills are likely to be combined in one omnibus bill.

The marijuana initiative was modeled after similar ballot measures in Washington and Colorado, and it passed with 53 percent of the vote.
 
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