Pubdate: Fri, 16 Jan 2015
Source: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (AK)
Copyright: 2015 Associated Press
Contact:  http://newsminer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/764

ALASKANS ATTEND 'LESSONS LEARNED' MARIJUANA CONFERENCE IN COLORADO

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Alaska law enforcement representatives and 
other public officials are in Colorado to learn how that state coped 
with legal recreational marijuana.

More than 500 people from 38 states, including 40 Alaskans, are 
attending a conference titled, "Marijuana Impact on Public Health and 
Safety in Colorado." It's hosted by the Colorado Association of 
Chiefs of Police.

Alaskans on Nov. 4 voted to legalize recreational marijuana. 
Beginning on Feb. 24, adults can no longer be arrested under state 
law for possessing up to an ounce of pot outside their homes. The 
measure lays out a nine-month rulemaking process for selling, growing 
and testing marijuana.

The Colorado conference was open to law enforcement personnel, 
regulators and policymakers but not the media or the public, the 
Alaska Dispatch News (http://bit.ly/14EC1MN) reported.

Marco Vasquez, the police chief in Erie, Colorado, and marijuana 
director for the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police, said 
better data collection in public health, public safety and other 
areas, could have helped Colorado.

His state also had a strict deadline for crafting rules and he 
suggested Alaska officials slow the timetable if possible.

"There are a lot of moving parts (in the regulatory process) and if 
you're rushed and don't have adequate resources and don't have 
adequate funding you're creating a recipe for where you may fail," 
Vasquez said.

Some Alaskans also visited Denver-area marijuana businesses in a tour 
coordinated by Vicente Sederberg LLC, a law firm that specializes in 
marijuana legalization. The firm often leads tours of grow sites and 
facilities that make edible pot, attorney Brian Vicente said.

"I think perhaps it's a glimpse into the future for those Alaskans 
that were able to come down here and see how regulated marijuana 
works," Vicente said in a telephone interview.

Colorado law enforcement has consistently opposed legalization, he said.

"I think there is absolutely a degree of bias (at the conference)," 
Vicente said. "We think its important regulators meet with a diverse 
set of stakeholders, and law enforcement is an important voice, but 
when you have people who have opposed and imprisoned people over 
marijuana, it's tough to say you'll get correct information out of 
that meeting."
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