MARIJUANA IN ALASKA

THE HISTORY OF CANNABIS IN ALASKA

Contributing Author: Keith Searles | Denalismoke.com

 

Copyright 2014 by Keith Searles

 

The first shots have already been fired as Alaska’s cannabis users fight for fair regulations following legalization in last November’s election. Opponents have been actively working to undermine the new law which legalizes public possession beginning in February, 2015. The new law gives the State of Alaska one year to develop regulations and start issuing licenses to growers and retailers.

 

MARIJUANA IN ALASKA

The Anchorage Assembly has already entertained an ordinance that would have banned commercial operations in Alaska’s largest city. Though the assembly soundly defeated the proposed ban in a vote of 9-2, the two assembly members who voted for the ban, Amy Demboski and Paul Honeman, were later made part of a four-member working group created to explore the city’s regulatory options. They were appointed by the assembly’s chairman, Dick Traini, an outspoken critic of legalized marijuana and one of the ordinance’s original sponsors.

Just three days later, on Friday, Dec. 19, Alaska’s newly elected governor, Bill Walker, in a private, by invitation only meeting told members of the Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce that he was looking for ways to delay legal production and sales of marijuana in the state. His comments were in response to a question about how Walker is approaching regulation. According to Walker, his legal advisors have said he might be able to get a 90 day extension. “I asked if we could do it for four years,” Walker told the chamber.

 

HISTORY AND HOSTILITY

Aside from the Alaska Supreme Court, Alaska’s lawmakers have always been very hostile towards cannabis. In its 1975 Ravin v. State of Alaska decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Alaskans can legally possess up to four ounces of bud and grow up to 25 plants in the privacy of their homes. The ruling was based on the premise that marijuana does not pose a danger to either users or the public good. Since that ruling, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have done their best to outlaw pot in Alaskan homes, only to have the courts rule their attempts unconstitutional. State law enforcement still occasionally bust small, constitutionally protected grows, confiscating marijuana and equipment, but never arresting or charging growers with a crime. To date, the state is still prosecuting sales and possession. The Alaska State Troopers are continuing to ticket anyone they catch outside their homes and confiscating their stash.

In 1998, Alaskans approved a ballot measure that legalized the use of medical marijuana. The law did not specifically provide for production, sales and distribution and as a result, 16 years later, there are still no medical marijuana dispensaries in Alaska. It’s only been in the past few years that medical marijuana patients have been able to find physicians willing to sign for their state-issued cards. Those few physicians were charging around $400 to sign for a card, since legalization though, that price has dropped significantly. It should also be noted that the State of Alaska has never honored any other state’s card.

 

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?

Alaska’s new legal marijuana law doesn’t take effect until February 24, 2015, 90 days after the November election was certified. At that time, Alaska’s cannabis users will be able to possess up to an ounce in public. The state will then have nine months to craft regulations to govern the commercial growing and selling of marijuana. Alaskans will then be able to apply for licenses and the state will have another 90 days to start issuing them. If regulation follows the timeline laid out in the new law, commercial cultivation could begin by late February, 2016. Stores could be opened at the same time, though they wouldn’t have anything to sell.

A lot of Alaska’s marijuana users don’t care whether commercial sales are successfully implemented or not. Alaska is largely cannabis self-sufficient. The state is so remote, it has to be. For a long time Alaskans have been supplying itself with top-shelf smoke for reasonable prices. Some marijuana is smuggled in from other places, but without the threat of going to jail, there are a hundreds of micro growers who operate under quasi-protected status provided by the Alaska Supreme Court’s 25 plant limit. There is a more than adequate supply of high quality, locally produced marijuana in Alaska coupled with an efficient distribution system. What’s more, the new public possession provisions will make apprehending illicit dealers even harder for police.

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