Pubdate: Fri, 13 Feb 2015
Source: Alaska Dispatch News (AK)
Copyright: 2015 Alaska Dispatch Publishing
Contact:  http://www.adn.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/18
Note: Anchorage Daily News until July '14
Author: Dean Guaneli
Note: Dean Guaneli worked for the Alaska Attorney General's Office 
from 1976-2006. He drafted Alaska's medical marijuana law in 1999, 
and nonmedical marijuana law in 2006. He is retired in Juneau.

ALASKA MUST TURN EVERY LEAF IN NEW POT REGULATIONS

Lots of people are negatively affected by marijuana, and we need to 
do something about it. I say this not to replay the arguments against 
legalized marijuana. My point is even though the price of oil has 
sunk, and state budgets are tight, this is no time to scrimp on drug 
education and treatment.

When legislators last held hearings on marijuana in 2006, they heard 
testimony that marijuana makes treating alcoholism more difficult. 
Many alcoholics consider marijuana a safe high, and using it can set 
back their treatment. People suffering from mental illness often 
self-medicate with marijuana, and that becomes easier now that it's legal.

Marijuana is associated with physical changes in the still-developing 
brains of young people, and with IQ loss and other cognitive 
difficulties that become most severe among teenagers who start using 
earliest, use it the most and continue through adulthood. School 
districts must educate children with factual and science-based 
programs, and the state should provide guidance and funding to do 
that. Scare tactics like "Reefer Madness" don't work.

As for marijuana and post-traumatic stress disorder, there's 
conflicting information on the internet. Many find temporary relief, 
but it appears that marijuana only addresses PTSD symptoms, and many 
doctors believe it prolongs recovery. Well-funded studies are only 
now starting. (The feds are finally starting to allow scientific 
studies of marijuana.) The bottom line is that no one should 
self-medicate with marijuana, or alcohol, or anything else, for a 
serious condition like mental illness or PTSD.

We also have to address marijuana use by people convicted of crimes 
under the influence of alcohol or drugs. There are hundreds who have 
been released on probation and parole on the condition they don't 
possess or consume controlled substances. This always included 
marijuana, because judges know alcohol, marijuana and other drugs 
just don't mix.

But are those conditions of probation still valid? After all, as of 
Feb. 24 it'll be the law of Alaska that "notwithstanding any other 
provision of law," using and possessing marijuana no longer is to be 
punished. Within days of the election, I was told by a judge that a 
mentally ill defendant on probation had already come into court 
asking to be able to use marijuana because the ballot measure had passed.

The Legislature must not leave any doubt that marijuana is still a 
controlled substance under existing or new conditions of probation 
and parole. However, legislation now being considered removes even 
hashish and concentrated THC from the list of controlled substances. 
This is a very bad idea. Regulations on retail marijuana outlets 
should prohibit selling to probationers or parolees, and it should be 
illegal for anyone to knowingly give it to them.

But it's not only the Legislature's responsibility to keep marijuana 
away from those vulnerable to the drug. We all have to do our part. 
If you know alcoholics, or young people, or persons with mental 
illness or PTSD, who are using marijuana, urge them to stop and get 
professional medical advice.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom