Pubdate: Mon, 29 Apr 2013
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA)
Copyright: 2013 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC.
Contact:  http://www.timesdispatch.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365
Page: 7

ALASKA SETS STAGE FOR NEXT FIGHT OVER MARIJUANA

Officials May OK Petition Drive to Put Issue on Ballot

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Alaska, known for its live-and-let-live
lifestyle, is poised to become the next battleground in the push to
legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

The state has a complicated history with the drug, with its highest
court ruling nearly 40 years ago that adults have a constitutional
right to possess and smoke marijuana for personal use in their own
homes.

In the late 1990s, Alaska became one of the first states to allow the
use of pot for medicinal reasons.

Then the pendulum swung the other direction, with residents in 2004
rejecting a ballot effort to legalize recreational marijuana. And in
2006, the state passed a law criminalizing possession of even small
amounts of the drug - leaving the current state of affairs somewhat
murky.

Supporters of recreational marijuana believe they have a real shot at
success in Alaska.

The state is reviewing their request to begin gathering signatures to
get an initiative on next year's ballot.

The proposal would make it legal for those 21 and older to use and
possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana, though not in public. It also
would set out provisions for legal grow operations and establish an
excise tax.

It's a significantly different version of the failed 2004 ballot
effort that would've allowed adults 21 and older to use, grow, sell or
give away marijuana or hemp products without penalty under state law.

"The whole initiative, you can tell, is scaled down to be as palatable
as possible," said one of the sponsors, Bill Parker.

If the initiative application is accepted, backers will have until
January, before the next legislative session starts, to gather the
more than 30,000 signatures required to qualify the measure for the
primary ballot.

Alaska is one of many states mulling changes to marijuana laws. Last
fall, voters in Colorado and Washington state passed initiatives
legalizing, taxing and regulating recreational marijuana.

Mason Tvert, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, said his
group is working to promote initiatives allowing recreational
marijuana in a handful of other states, including California, Oregon,
Maine and Nevada.

He thinks those states will be ready to pass such a measure in 2016.
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