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ALASKA LAWMAKERS HOLD MARIJUANA SHOW AND TELL

JUNEAU, Alaska ( AP ) - Alaska lawmakers on Friday used a committee hearing to learn more about marijuana as they work on regulating it.

The House Judiciary Committee has spent the past several weeks discussing a bill to decriminalize recreational marijuana and make other uses and acts illegal.

On Friday, they had the opportunity to see and smell - but not use- marijuana.  A representative from each the Juneau Police Department, state Department of Law and the legalization effort provided information about various forms of the drug.

Rep.  Gabrielle LeDoux, R-Anchorage, and chair of the committee, said she was familiar with regular marijuana, but didn't know what hash was or how it was used.

Previously, state law treated marijuana and hash as different substances; the new definition - passed as part of a voter initiative last fall - includes both.

Bruce Schulte, a marijuana advocate, brought in hash and hash oil.  He explained that those substances come from resin on marijuana plants, whereas regular marijuana includes more of the leaf and plant matter.  Hash is typically more potent.

Hash oil can be used in making edibles, as can a concentrate derived from the marijuana plant, Schulte explained.  He also clarified that hash oil itself is not explosive, although if butane is used to extract it, the process can be dangerous.

Looking at the various forms prompted lawmakers to ask about the difference between liquid and solid weights.  Under the initiative passed by voters in November, adults 21 years and older can possess up to an ounce of marijuana, whether it's leafy greens, brownish hash or in another form.

Kaci Schroeder, from the Department of Law's criminal division, said that the initiative does not distinguish between different forms or weights.

LeDoux also asked about the process for making edibles, and what limits might be needed.

Schulte said he thought it would be within the bounds of the initiative to disallow a process that alters candy and other packaged food products spraying or injecting it with marijuana, because they have a particular appeal to children, but that other types of edibles should be allowed.