Pubdate: Fri, 05 Dec 2014
Source: Alaska Dispatch News (AK)
Copyright: 2014 Alaska Dispatch Publishing
Contact:  http://www.adn.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/18
Note: Anchorage Daily News until July '14
Author: Dermot Cole

LOCAL GOVERNMENTS MULL PREPARATIONS FOR LEGALIZED MARIJUANA

FAIRBANKS -- The biggest change in the semi-legal status of marijuana 
in Alaska in 40 years goes into effect in less than three months.

Lighting up in public will remain illegal and subject to a fine of up 
to $100, but as of Feb. 24, it will be OK under state law for adults 
to possess or transport an ounce of marijuana and to consume 
marijuana in private.

"What the law is very clear about is no consuming in public. That's 
going to be against the law. We don't know yet what 'public' is going 
to be," Fairbanks North Star Borough Assistant Attorney Wendy Doxey 
told elected officials and the public in an overview of the new law this week.

She said the definition of "public" is among the points that could be 
clarified by local or state regulations in the months to come. Others 
have said the same rules that apply to drinking in public would fit the bill.

In public or private, marijuana use will remain a violation of 
federal law, but the Obama administration has signaled that it will 
not challenge state legalization laws.

In 1975, the Alaska Supreme Court declared that the constitutional 
right to privacy allowed adults to have small amounts of marijuana in 
the home. A 2004 decision confirmed that protection.

Even so, state laws have long made possession of any amount of 
marijuana a crime. Marijuana was legal in the home, but there was no 
legal way to get it into the home.

That contradiction is to end in February following voter approval 
Nov. 4 of the initiative to legalize and regulate marijuana. The 
measure won approval by a 53 percent majority statewide, with strong 
majorities in the Fairbanks area opting for legalization.

Borough Assembly Presiding Officer Karl Kassel said he called the 
session of three local governments this week because he hopes to 
begin planning a unified approach in response to the new marijuana law.

Most of the local government elected officials from the Fairbanks 
North Star Borough and the cities of Fairbanks and North Pole 
attended the meeting, as did nearly 100 members of the public.

One option for local governments is to prohibit marijuana 
establishments, which could lead to stores in some jurisdictions but 
not in others. Local governments could also take steps to regulate 
hours of operation, the location and the number of stores, a route 
that Borough Mayor Luke Hopkins said he intends to pursue through a 
zoning ordinance.

State regulations dealing with various aspects of the pot business 
are due to be drafted and implemented over the next year and a half.

Under the initiative, local governments cannot prohibit the personal 
use of marijuana or restrict personal use inside the home.

Adults will be allowed to grow six plants at a time on private 
property, as long as the crop is not visible with the naked eye from 
beyond the premises, Doxey said.

"Personal cultivation is not allowed to be in public view without an 
optical aid such as binoculars," Doxey said. In addition to being out 
of sight, the plants have to be secured from unauthorized access, she said.

Adults will be allowed to give-not sell-up to an ounce and up to six 
immature pot plants to another adult.

"Anything over 1 ounce and over six plants is still going to be 
illegal. And potentially still going to be illegal at the same 
criminal level that we see now," she said,

One exception to that, she said, is that those who are growing up to 
six plants at a time are allowed to keep what they grow.

"People will be allowed to harvest their plants and keep the harvest 
as long as it's in the same location as where they grew the plant. 
So, potentially that would lead to more than 1 ounce that's 
authorized," she said.

On the day that pot is legalized, the clock will begin ticking on the 
nine-month period in which the state is to write regulations to 
clarify what needs clarifying, she said.

Person-to-person sales of pot will remain illegal under the law, but 
by the middle of 2016, the measure envisions that commercial stores 
will be in operation where people can purchase marijuana.

Regulations on the state level could come from the Alcoholic Beverage 
Control Board or from a new board that could be set up to regulate 
marijuana, she said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom