That's a good point, we were "public" and therefore illegal!
I just don't give a shit because I smoke a fuckton of weed when I ski, on chairlifts or the skin track or in the trees. That's just the deal, as it has been and as it will be, and since no LEOs or mayoral candidates are out there, fuckem.
Nothing new here but we've been hiding the ganja circle since forever,and truth be told I really don't mind slipping off from "the group," or going off behind the barn (summit?) with the like-mindeds to burn some weed away from the rangers/bosses/straights anyway.
Its not really talked about much but one of the the things that attracts me to smoking is the social aspect- standing in a circle, sharing a j that turns into a we-know-something-the-Man-doesn't pleasure. (That part might actually be pretty addictive too, but that's a whole different story...) If its not illegal, the bond shared won't be quite as strong, since you're not committing a crime in the presence of others, like you were when the plant was "more illegal."
Anyway with legalization, however half-assed the Alaska Legislature's interpretation of that is, I fear losing a bit of that almost-guilty pleasure of smoking. I don't have it fully articulated but a small part of the enjoyment for me is the covert, small-group nature of it. I mean i don't have to break the law per se, but it has effectively sorted the weed from the chaff as it were, for as long as I've been smoking.
I mean I really like the subterfuge- the head nod, the hand signal, the eyebrow raise, the secret verbal queue to your inner circle that says fuck this, let's slip out and burn one down!
When "legalization" first passed in AK, I was stoke but a bit... forlorn? Reminiscent? Dunno how to word it but I don't want to lose that small-circle pleasure, and with the way the legislature is struggling with wrapping their minds around NOT criminalizing the plant, well I don't think there's much to worry about there. They're still forcing us to sneak off into the woods, or behind the dumpster. At least we'll face no criminal penalty for possession! That's the win for me, I'm really not worried about the $100 ticket, they'll have to catch me first...