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ALASKA LAWMAKERS CONSIDER NEW APPROACH TO MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION

JUNEAU, Alaska ( AP ) - A Senate committee is considering a new approach to decriminalizing marijuana.

The Senate Finance Committee on Monday heard about a new draft of the bill intended to decriminalize possession, growth and transportation of limited amounts of marijuana for adults 21 years and older.  The draft would list marijuana as a controlled substance, but include a non-applicability section that essentially would create an exception to controlled substance crimes for acts that are within the bounds of a voter initiative passed in November.  That initiative legalized recreational use of pot.

The draft also would still allow for a commercial industry, as the initiative intended.

Committee co-chair Anna MacKinnon, R-Eagle River, brought the draft up as a possible substitute to the one currently in committee and had staff present it.  But a decision about whether to formally substitute it will be made Tuesday.

In an email to supporters Monday, legalization advocate Tim Hinterberger wrote that the amended version included "damaging" components but did not elaborate on those.

The bill would adjust state law to change some of the crimes associated with marijuana growth or possession, including differentiating between different misdemeanors and felonies based on weight.  It also would create violations for the acts prohibited in the initiative, including public consumption.  It would make it a crime to provide a minor with marijuana.

Another provision of the bill would ensure that if a minor received a violation for consuming or possessing marijuana, it was not listed on the state's online court system.

The bill allows for deliveries of marijuana, but some lawmakers said they want to specify that it only refers to a definition of delivery that revolves around selling it across a counter, rather than allowing a retail establishment to deliver it to a person's home.

MacKinnon said she intends to take public testimony on the bill Wednesday.

The proposed draft is much shorter than the bill it would replace.