Pubdate: Thu, 09 Apr 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: Cathy Tilton
Note: Rep. Cathy Tilton represents House District 12, which 
encompasses the communities of Butte, Chugiak, Eklutna, Fairview Loop 
and Peters Creek. She is a 30-year resident of the Mat-Su valley area 
and grew up fishing rivers near Chugiak with her grandparents.

Municipal Marijuana

HB 75 HELPS ALASKA COMMUNITIES REGULATE A NEW INDUSTRY

Last November, Alaskans voted to support the legalization and 
commercialization of marijuana, following the example of Colorado and 
Washington. The campaign supporting that ballot measure was the 
"campaign to regulate marijuana like alcohol."

House Bill 75 is one of the marijuana bills under consideration by 
the Legislature that seeks to do that - at least to the extent 
practicable and consistent with how our municipalities manage alcohol 
establishments and the various licenses under Title 4 (alcohol).

HB 75 is a work product of the House Community and Regional Affairs 
and Judiciary Committees, more than a dozen municipal attorneys 
throughout Alaska and attorneys for the Marijuana Policy Project - 
the group that drafted the initiative language.

Shortly after last year's general election, several municipalities 
and the Alaska Municipal League came to the House Community and 
Regional Affairs committee asking the Legislature to provide greater 
clarity for several of the initiative's provisions and expressing the 
need for additional definitions.

HB 75 is as much about the process used to develop it as it is about 
the specific policy contents of the bill. Rather than telling our 
boroughs and cities what they were going to do, the Community and 
Regional Affairs Committee asked them what they needed us to do.

During the development of the bill, it was the committee's intent to 
provide our municipalities with a vehicle to address the most 
immediate and pressing issues identified to us. HB 75 is "fix it" legislation.

Here is a 40,000-foot overview:

HB 75 establishes a household plant limit. Currently the limit is a 
maximum of 24 plants per household, an increase from the original 
version in the Community and Regional Affairs committee substitute. 
We've heard consistently from municipalities that one important thing 
they need is a hard number, and they've said they don't care what it 
is, as long as there is one. When looking at Alaska's census data, 
this limit is sufficient to meet the provisions of the initiative for 
the average Alaska household.

Both state (AS 04.21.015) and federal (27 CFR 25.206) law limit the 
amount of beer an individual can brew in their own home. Since the 
initiative campaign was the "campaign to regulate marijuana like 
alcohol," we felt that this was consistent with the advertised intent 
of the initiative.

HB 75 provides clarity about how "assisting" is defined.

HB 75 provides for a protest and review process. Similar to the 
processes established for alcohol licenses, the bill provides for a 
protest and review process to Alaska's municipalities regarding 
commercial marijuana registrations.

HB 75 provides for a local option election process for established 
villages to "opt out" of allowing commercial marijuana 
establishments. Again, it's nearly identical to provisions included 
in Title 4 governing alcohol.

HB 75 provides for the "marijuana clubs" as a new type of commercial 
establishment. This was at the express request of numerous 
municipalities. Our municipalities thought it was important to have a 
statutory definition so that they were clear on what that could allow 
for or ban.

HB 75 clarifies how municipalities must conduct local processes 
within the construct of the State Administrative Procedures Act. Many 
municipalities have their own version of AS 44.62, substantially 
similar to the state's. They asked us to allow some flexibility to 
use their own ordinances when those ordinances exist.

HB 75 clarifies for municipalities that, generally, any power they 
have to regulate alcohol establishments they also have to regulate 
marijuana establishments.

HB 75 is not a bill that opens up Title 29 and expands municipal 
authority. It is not a bill that attempts, or was ever intended, to 
address every issue associated with the passage of Ballot Measure 2.

It is my hope we can all recognize that Alaska's municipalities need 
assistance -- assistance in the interests of public health, public 
safety and protection of trade -- as they attempt to write their 
ordinances and prepare for this new industry.

The campaign promoting Ballot Measure 2 was advertised as "the 
campaign to regulate marijuana like alcohol," and HB 75, in a limited 
scope, does precisely that.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom