A bill to regulate commercial marijuana, including proposed business license types, was introduced in the Alaska Legislature on Wednesday. Senate Bill 62 was forwarded to the State Affairs committee after being introduced on the Senate floor. Alaska's law legalizing recreational marijuana use went into effect Tuesday. While the law outlines conduct surrounding personal use, what commercialization will look like is left up to the state to figure out. The state has nine months to craft regulations for businesses. Some details proposed in the measure: [continues 322 words]
When did the Alaska Dispatch News become High Times? I am concerned with the ADN's approach to capturing readers by inundating us with "how-to" stories about cannabis/marijuana use, without having coverage that also articulates the concerns of medical care providers about excessive use of marijuana among youth. Thanks to the ADN, we do know a lot about how to grow pot, how to travel with pot, new pot stores popping up and shutting down, police dogs getting untrained to detect pot, rules for consuming pot in apartments and on the sidewalk, and everything else to ease your mind about your pot use. [continues 241 words]
Late last Wednesday night I was asked if I was "going to the press conference tomorrow, aren't you part of the new coalition to legalize marijuana?" I said "no" because I didn't know what they were talking about, and I went on Facebook and was shocked to learn of this new group New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform (NJUMR). They held a Press Conference at 11 a.m. on Thursday 2/18. Based on the video I watched, this new group is advocating Legalization in the Garden State and uniting activists. Well, in my opinion they started off wrong in the UNITING department because apparently they deliberately excluded some long-time green-collar-type activists, the "radical contingent" of the marijuana movement and no victims groups or medical groups were invited. Actions speak louder than words. [continues 937 words]
Dear Stoner: Is it legal to fly from Denver to another medical state with medicine on you? Longmont Larry Dear Larry: I've addressed this question before, but it still gets asked at least once a month, so the answer is worth repeating. That answer is "kind of." Transportation Security Administration officials have said they wouldn't be able to stop passengers from boarding a flight with cannabis - but that's mostly because they can't. TSA reps have told Westword repeatedly in the past that they aren't scouring bags for weed. They're much more concerned with nail clippers and liquids over the three-ounce limit. If they do find your stash and want to do something about it, they'll hand you over to local cops, as the TSA isn't actually a law enforcement agency. Because local police enforce local laws and being a medical patient with pot is legal locally, it sort of means that patients in medical states can board planes with pot...if you ignore the fact that you're boarding a federally controlled space and that federal law says pot possession is illegal. And last year, DIA officials pushed to make possession on DIA property a crime incurring anywhere from $150 to $999 in fines - even for medical patients. Thankfully, cops have mostly been allowing travelers to throw away the greenery and avoid the ticket. [continues 243 words]
Need Weed? Live in Texas? Come to a California In a past life growing up on the East Coast, I had two cities topping my list of places to visit: Montreal and Amsterdam. My reasons were as obvious as they were common. In Montreal, the drinking age is 18. In Amsterdam, you can buy marijuana in a coffee shop. For a thirsty and clear-minded kid in the Boston area, where else do you go to party? My interest in both places dissipated, for just as obvious reasons. World-class Montreal lost its Molson-fueled appeal after I turned 21, and trekking to Amsterdam became less imperative right after I moved to California. [continues 862 words]
About the time you think things couldn't get any crazier in the American crazyquilt approach to cannabis: Last Thursday two lawsuits were filed against the state of Colorado to shut down legal marijuana, alleging that all legal marijuana businesses are illegal under the federal racketeering act. The next day, two U.S. congressmen introduced bills that would set up a regulatory approach to cannabis on a federal level. That's right. At the very same time federal legislators are trying to sort out the inconsistencies between state and federal cannabis statutes, lawsuits are being filed to try and stop legislation approved by Colorado voters in 2012. You can't make this shit up. [continues 763 words]
The Hoopa Valley Tribe will vote this year on whether to allow medical pot growing on tribal lands. Native American tribes around the nation are deciding how to react to the federal government's announcement last year that it will let tribes decide on their own marijuana laws, a hands-off approach similar to the U.S. Department of Justice's newfound attitude toward states that have legalized recreational pot. Several Hoopa tribal members were quick to take advantage of that relaxation of federal policy, and a petition to legalize cultivation on the reservation gained enough votes to appear on the tribe's April 28 ballot, according to the Two Rivers Tribune. [continues 469 words]
I'm looking to experience Cali and would like your opinion on the finest this state has to offer. Any recommended strains or places to visit? - -B Rockk I am glad you asked. With springtime on the way, now is the perfect time to start planning daytrips through the cannabis countryside. You will need a letter of recommendation from a California doctor. Technically, you don't have to be a California resident to get a letter of recommendation, but some clubs will not let you inside if you don't live in Cali. [continues 434 words]
Remains to Be Seen If This Move Will Force the RCMP to Intervene A compassion club in downtown Parksville is now distributing pot-based products. Though Pheonix Pain Management Society said it won't distribute medical marijuana from its Parksville site until the city is on board, managing director Akil Pessoa stocked the shelves Friday with cannabinoid (CBD) products. He said they will be available in-store this week. "While the mayor (Marc Lefebvre) is still getting his head around THC, rather than wait, we're just going to move forward," said Pessoa. [continues 322 words]
Marijuana Legalization Seen As a Breakthrough for the Nation's Capital and a National Movement As Thursday dawns on the nation's capital, marijuana will be a legal intoxicant, though Washington will not be Amsterdam, or even Denver. There will be no pot shops, no open-air smoking, but at least for the moment, the District - for once in its decades-long struggle for the right to govern itself - has gotten its way, and a green rush is on. Despite a last-hours intervention by the Republican chairman of the House committee that handles D.C. affairs, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser and D.C. Council members said Wednesday that they would not back down from implementing the will of the 70 percent of city voters who approved legalization in November. [continues 1845 words]
House Republicans Threaten City Officials With Jail for Implementing the Marijuana Law. AMID ALL the uncertainties surrounding the legalization of marijuana in D.C., a few things are clear. Among them is that Congress has better things to do than meddle in the purely local affairs of the District. When it does interfere, it ends up making a mess of matters. Apparently, however, there are no bounds to the grandstanding of opportunistic politicians on Capitol Hill. That District officials and employees have been threatened with jail, by no less than the chairman of a powerful congressional committee, for their good-faith efforts to follow a voter mandate is utterly inexcusable. Such a spectacle - and the fact that the District is under congressional attack for undertaking virtually the same steps as its counterparts in Colorado, Washington and, most recently, Alaska - should bring home to the rest of the country the need to redress the historic injustice of the city's limited political powers. [continues 329 words]
VANCOUVER - The federal government's decision to prevent Canadians from growing their own medical marijuana and instead forcing them to buy it from commercial producers has robbed them of affordable access to medicine, says a lawyer for a group of patients. John Conroy, who represents four people challenging last year's changes to the medical marijuana system, told Federal Court that some patients have been left with little choice but to run afoul of the law, either by continuing to grow their own pot or purchasing it on the black market. [continues 492 words]
Plaintiffs Say Their Charter Rights Were Violated When the Government Enacted Regulations That Made Personal Growing Illegal One of the four people asking the Federal Court to overturn Canada's new medical marijuana laws says he grows his own to help him cope cheaply with serious and chronic pain and that being deprived of it will unconstitutionally force him to choose between his medicine and jail. But government lawyers contend allowing individuals to grow is a security, fire and health risk for patients, their neighbours and children who may be exposed to the drug. As well, the government contends, it is too difficult to ensure the marijuana being grown is medically effective. [continues 580 words]
D.C. lawmakers held steadfast that marijuana legalization laws would go into effect Thursday, despite threats from two House Republicans that doing so would put local government employees at risk of jail time. Local officials were put on notice late Tuesday in a letter from Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz saying that Congress is investigating whether the city violated federal law by spending money to implement a voter-approved initiative to legalize the possession and home cultivation of marijuana. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser responded Wednesday, saying the District is well within its legal right to implement the laws, which were set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, and that she doesn't believe the implementation of Initiative 71 has cost the District any money. [continues 821 words]
(AP) - Marijuana has been pervasive but illegal in Jamaica for decades, but on Tuesday night Parliament gave final legislative approval to an act decriminalizing small amounts of it and establishing a licensing agency to regulate a lawful medical marijuana industry. The amendments pave the way for a "cannabis licensing authority" to be established to deal with regulating the cultivation and distribution of marijuana for medical and scientific purposes. Officials say the island's governor-general will soon sign the measure into law. The act makes possession of up to two ounces of marijuana a petty offense that could result in a ticket but not in a criminal record. Cultivation of five or fewer plants on any premises will be permitted. And tourists who are prescribed medical marijuana abroad will soon be able to apply for permits authorizing them to legally buy small amounts. [end]
There was no sign on the former brick factory on the treeless block in Red Hook, Brooklyn, where Arthur Mondella worked. No name on the door. Nothing - other than the bright-red liquid trickling onto the sidewalk and into the gutter, and the thick scent of syrup on a summer's day - to announce the presence of one of the country's largest suppliers of maraschino cherries. "Look at this building," said Brian Connell, 68, who has lived next door to Dell's Maraschino Cherries for nearly 20 years. "It's totally anonymous. And then, here you see this Porsche Carrera being backed out. I say to myself, 'The cherry business is profitable! Who knew?' " [continues 858 words]
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Alaska lawmakers have presented a preliminary plan for regulating a new commercial marijuana industry. The Senate Judiciary Committee introduced a bill Wednesday that details components of a commercial marijuana industry, including taxes, licensing and regulations. Personal possession, transportation and growth of certain quantities of marijuana became legal for adults 21 and older in Alaska on Tuesday, and the state now has nine months to draft rules for the industry. The bill details the types of marijuana-related business licenses that would be available, specifies that they can only be granted to Alaska residents and includes ways for communities to control local licensing decisions. Criminal background checks and fingerprinting would also be required for would-be licensees. [continues 223 words]
How DEA Agent's Slaying Led to Legalization of Extraordinary Rendition BOGOTA, Colombia - Of all the cases of troubling corruption and stunning violence that have characterized the war on drugs in Latin America, few linger as powerfully among U.S. drug agents as the case of Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, who vanished on a busy street in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1985 while walking to meet his wife for lunch. His body was found nearly a month later. His skull, jaw, nose, cheekbones and windpipe were crushed. His ribs were broken. His head had been drilled with a screwdriver. [continues 1068 words]
The city that brought America government shutdowns and all-night filibusters is set to make pot legal on Thursday. But by the time the chaos over implementing the law is settled, most everyone in the District of Columbia might wish they were smoking some. Residents voted overwhelmingly in November to allow growing and possessing small amounts of marijuana. But Congress, using its oversight authority over the nation's capital, inserted a provision into a massive December spending deal that prevented the local government from enacting the law. [continues 148 words]
Canadian securities regulators have issued a warning to investors about poor disclosures by medical marijuana companies, saying a review has concluded many are providing deficient information to shareholders when announcing their plans to join the sector. Securities commissions in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec teamed up to review news releases issued by 62 publicly traded companies announcing plans to become marijuana producers under a new federal program that opened last April. The program will permit private-sector companies to grow and sell marijuana under licence from Health Canada. [continues 526 words]
Fewer students in Grades 7 to 12 across central Vancouver Island are smoking tobacco, marijuana or drinking and driving, according to the results of a health study released this month. But computer and cell phone usage is causing a chronic lack of sleep; and there have been no improvements in the percentage of students attempting suicide or deliberately harming themselves. The McCreary Centre, a non-government, nonprofit organization committed to improving youth health in B.C., released the Central Vancouver Island results of their 2013 survey. The results represent school districts in Port Alberni, Nanaimo-Ladysmith, Qualicum and the Cowichan Valley. About 250 students in Alberni were selected to take part in the survey, making up about 14 per cent of respondents. [continues 417 words]
I can't tell you how many times I've had out-of-towners tell me they think San Francisco is a breathtakingly beautiful city - so why is it that City Hall hasn't done more about baseball pitchers chewing tobacco at city ballparks? No wait, I can tell you. I've never heard that. I have heard countless complaints from tourists and locals about homeless people sprawled on sidewalks, the stink of the city and the creepiness of walking downtown while navigating around urine puddles, feces and used hypodermic needles. [continues 463 words]
NEW YORK - Like most businesses near the waterfront in Brooklyn's Red Hook neighborhood, Arthur Mondella's maraschino cherry factory had seen its ups and downs. It survived Superstorm Sandy, recession and America's finicky tastes to keep churning out millions of the sweet, gooey accouterments that grace Shirley Temples, hot fudge sundaes and Manhattans. When investigators checking on possible environmental violations visited the business Tuesday, though, Mondella's confident facade collapsed. After excusing himself to use the toilet, Mondella shot himself to death, bringing a shocking end to the cherry maker's life and leaving officials to sort out how much of his money came from growing marijuana and how much came from maraschino cherries. [continues 535 words]
City's Estimated 50,000 Users Well Served by Retail In many ways, the recently opened Crazy Bill's on Upper Ottawa Street (the family's third location in a growing chain) is the antithesis of the classic head shop: It's large, bright and airy and the huge inventory is meticulously organized and laid out in neat, well-lit display cases. It could be a jewelry store or a computer parts supply place - but it's a head shop selling everything from $1.29 Zig-Zag rolling papers to a $1,000 limited edition Herbalizer electronic vaporizer. [continues 1121 words]
Joint Submissions: In a Vancouver Courtroom, the Conservative Government and Its Opponents Make Their Case In a vast, near-empty federal courtroom high above downtown Vancouver's Georgia and Granville streets, the fate of the country's medical marijuana grow-ops is being decided. Lawyers for the Conservative government and those for patients and growers began cross-examining witnesses Monday about best practices, the price of dirt and whether you pronounce the particularly powerful hybrid strain Oh Gee or, more caveman-like, Og Kush. [continues 621 words]
A Surrey education series aims to be an honest look at substance abuse and addiction to rectify what organizers view are 'lies' told in drug education classes. The Surrey Area Network of Substance Users - a group of former and current substance users who provide user-based peer support and education formed - is hosting Drugs, Families and Society with an "unusually honest" approach to addictions. SANSU asked Mark Haden, University of B.C. School of Population and Public Health adjunct professor, to develop and deliver the seven-part series, targeted to start this March. [continues 284 words]
The strip search of a Quebec teen at her school for drugs, by school staff, is an unjustified breach of her privacy and assault on her dignity. If school officials can defend such a move to root out a bit of marijuana, searches of body cavities can't be far behind. School boards in Manitoba and elsewhere in Canada ought to take this example of abuse of authority as a lesson in the perils of unchecked arrogance. The stripping of the teen was initially defended by Quebec's government, but now it appears it, too, has recognized the offensive nature of the search. [continues 265 words]
Cannabis Lounge Owner Standing His Ground As Police Promise to 'Relentlessly' Enforce Laws Sitting at the bar of his new cannabis lounge on York Boulevard, a joint lying on the counter by his elbow, Peter Melanson admits that giving away marijuana as a door prize at his weekly comedy show is a bit of a risk. "It's mine. I give it to Dan (the comedy show host) and he gives it to the customer. We're not selling it, we're giving it away." [continues 601 words]
Re "Catch and release," Feb. 22 It's unfortunate to see law enforcement leaders take the line that locking up problem drug users or threatening them with felony jail time is the way to get them straightened out. Law enforcement never liked Proposition 47 and actively tried to kill it, but its pique doesn't justify misrepresenting what the evidence tells us about addiction and recovery. What the evidence shows is that court-ordered treatment usually ends in relapse. Treatment that people seek on their own has a far greater likelihood of success. [continues 60 words]
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Alaska on Tuesday became the third U. S. state to legalize marijuana. But the historic day passed with little public acknowledgment in a state with a savvy marijuana culture that has seen varying degrees of legal acceptance of the drug for 40 years. Supporters said the day was a milestone, comparing it to the end of Prohibition. But unlike in Colorado and Washington state, there were no street parties and public smoking displays in Alaska's biggest cities. [continues 247 words]
Buying, Selling and Smoking Marijuana in Public Remains a Crime in the Last Frontier. NOME, Alaska - On the day Alaska became the third state in the nation to legalize recreational pot use, folks in this party town best known as the finish line for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race seemed more interested in watching snowmobile contestants blast into the city than smoking a joint. Photographs by Mark Thiessen Associated Press A GREEN CROSS marks the Alaska Cannabis Club in Anchorage. Alaska on Tuesday became the third state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. [continues 511 words]
Hemp from Granny A pair of Park County paramedics are bringing hemp back. Karen Kinne and JoDee Weaver will soon open Colorado's first cultivation and retail hemp store, Granny's High Altitude Super Hemp (38321 Hwy. 24, Lake George). "The [state] Department of Agriculture is just so excited for the hemp industry to come back," says Kinne. "It was a huge industry all the way up to the '50s. It was shut down when marijuana was classified as a Class I drug, and hemp went with it." [continues 376 words]
It looks like longtime state activists will mount an effort to put the question of legalizing marijuana for recreational use by adults on the 2016 ballot. They're being pushed by the appearance of a new organization, the Michigan Responsibility Council (MRC), with ties to the state Republican Party, that has its own plans to tax and regulate the plant. Either group will have to fight to get it on the ballot and probably faces a tougher fight to garner enough votes to pass it. The idea of a split electorate having to choose between plans does not bode well for either side. [continues 883 words]
How the GOP Led the Way in Defunding the War on Medical Weed. The American people, in a strange way, can thank Republicans for the historic end to the federal war on medical marijuana. Due to a weird mix of events, newly elected House Republicans got a chance to do something they wanted - represent their constituents' viewpoints on legalizing medical marijuana - by essentially doing nothing at all late last year. Central to this story is former tequila-drinking party-boy surfer from Huntington Beach named Dana Rohrabacher - a Congressional Republican - capitalized on powerful currents in the wake of the November 2014 election to float a bill to defund the federal war on medical marijuana. Astonishingly, it passed. [continues 754 words]
Several Tribes Will Discuss This Weekend Whether They Want to Get into the Cannabiz. It should be noted that I'm not exactly a shill for the marijuana industry. (Though product samples can be dropped off at the Weekly offices: make sure to mark packages "Legal Marijuana" lest they be confiscated by the federal post office.) That said, when there's positive news related to cannabis, given my predilection for smoking the stuff, I have every intention of highlighting the study, report, innovation, or miracle cure-if only to counter the hundred years of Reefer Madness propaganda that came before. (They did have cool posters . . . ) With that pot-infused preamble in place, it's time for a joke: [continues 727 words]
FAIRBANKS - The Fairbanks City Council unanimously approved an ordinance on Monday defining the term "public" in regards to marijuana consumption inside city limits. The 6-0 vote occurred on the night before legalization. The ordinance adds a new section to Fairbanks General Code Chapter 46, which originally banned alcohol consumption in certain public places. Language added to the code says it is unlawful for any person to knowingly consume marijuana "(1) On, in, or upon any public place, except as permitted by ordinance, regulation, statute or permit; or (2) Outdoors on property adjacent to a public place, and without consent of the owner or person in control thereof." [continues 274 words]
The Alcoholic Beverage Control Board issued an emergency regulation at a meeting of its board Tuesday morning defining a "public place" for the purposes of legal marijuana consumption. The regulation adopted at the meeting defines a public place as "a place to which the public or a substantial group of persons has access and includes highways, transportation facilities, schools, places of amusement or business, parks, playgrounds, prisons, and hallways, lobbies, and other portions of apartment houses and hotels not constituting rooms or apartments designed for actual residence." [continues 156 words]
On Feb. 24, recreational marijuana will be legal in Alaska, but don't expect to see any mushers using along the Iditarod Trail -- at least if they want to stay in the race. "(It's a) non-issue," Race Marshall Mark Nordman wrote in an email to Alaska Dispatch News Thursday. "(The) rules have not changed." Marijuana use on the trail remains prohibited for mushers. In 2010 the race added marijuana to its list of banned substances. The move was seen by some as a direct challenge to then three-time champion Lance Mackey, a cancer survivor and admitted medical marijuana user. Mackey went on to win his fourth consecutive race that year. He has never tested positive after a race for the drug. [continues 103 words]
An excerpt from a Winnipeg Free Press editorial: The strip search of a Quebec teen at her school for drugs, by school staff, is an unjustified breach of her privacy and assault on her dignity. If school officials can defend such a move to root out a bit of marijuana, searches of body cavities can't be far behind. School boards across Canada ought to take this example of abuse of authority as a lesson in the perils of unchecked arrogance. [continues 369 words]
I practiced orthopedic surgery in Tallahassee for 35 years. During that time, it was necessary to provide pain medication to my patients many times. There was never any problem doing what was indicated, as I can recall. But that was then, and now is now. Now the government has decided it will decide who gets medication and who does not. How has the government done that? By making it so difficult to prescribe narcotic pain medication that many physicians simply refuse to do so. They are afraid of being sanctioned or of losing their license to practice because the D.E.A. has gone too far in cleaning up the pill mills. [continues 97 words]
It turns out that laughter can be the best medicine, especially for teenagers. Dr. David Templeman, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, says that children who rely on substances to get through their teen years, will never develop the skills needed as a adult to live a happy independent life. "I tell them they need to fill their day with something that's fun," says Templeman, who will make a video appearance during a live chat on mental health and addictions that will be live-streamed starting at 6: 30 p. m. on The Expositor's website: www.brantfordexpositor.ca . [continues 819 words]
KIRKLAND LAKE - The owner of the Tripping Daisy is taking his fight to the streets of Kirkland Lake. The Tripping Daisy, located on Lebel Avenue had a search warrant served at the premises Feb. 5, and according to store owner Darren Delaney the OPP seized $25,000 worth of his merchandise, including bongs, pipes, grinders, vaporizers. While Delaney claims he sold these items and other supplies for consumption of smoking materials for tobacco or herb use only, unless the person had a prescription for medical marijuana, these items are commonly used for marijuana or other illegal substances. [continues 163 words]
Dealing with harm reduction for substance abusers involves far more than just taking away their drugs, North Cowichan council learned recently. Island Health's Central Island medical health officer Dr. Paul Hasselback and harm reduction coordinator Griffin Russell answered a request for information from North Cowichan and made a presentation at a council meeting. Russell said that the idea of harm reduction is not new. "Our first methadone program started in Canada in 1964. We've progressed through different harm reduction programs across the country since that time. Following on the heels of the Netherlands in 1984, Vancouver opened its first fixed-site needle exchange in 1989, followed by Victoria in 1996. Since then health authorities have continued to offer a variety of harm reduction activities both in fixed sites, and in outreach and mobile capacities," he explained. [continues 585 words]
In Canada, our model to deal with illegal drugs in our communities has historically been law enforcement-based. We treat people involved with drugs, including addicts, as criminals, first and foremost. This approach has been an abject failure, assuming the goal is to turn people away from abusing substances. Other countries use a much more medical-centred approach. In brief, the idea is that addicts don't belong in jail, they need treatment. It's past time that we consider formally switching our approach. [continues 374 words]
Whonnock residents are worried about the size, smell and the traffic of a potential medicinal marijuana operation on 272nd Street, but the man behind the project says it will be a showcase of high-tech growing. By summer, a 40,000-sq.-foot greenhouse will be complete on a 15-acre piece of property tucked into a low-lying area near Whonnock Creek. Just what will be grown inside the glass is up to Health Canada. "The end use, in terms of crop, has not been determined," said Daniel Sutton, president of the numbered company that's building the project. [continues 879 words]
Well, let's see, citizens have been asking the Florida Legislature to legalize it for at least a decade - and legislators said no. There was a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November, put there via citizen initiative. Months before the election, it polled at 78 percent, with support across party lines, age, race and gender. Legislative leaders came out publicly against it. Anti-drug crusaders formed a political action committee and hit up Daddy Warbucks - Sheldon Adelson - for millions to fund their effort. [continues 662 words]
Native leaders worry that initiative will bring new temptations JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Smoking, growing and possessing marijuana becomes legal in America's wildest state Tuesday, thanks to a voter initiative aimed at clearing away 40 years of conflicting laws and court rulings. Making Alaska the third state to legalize recreational marijuana was the goal of a coalition including libertarians, rugged individualists and small-government Republicans who prize the privacy rights enshrined in the state's constitution. But when they voted 52-48 percent last November to legalize marijuana use by adults in private places, they left many of the details to lawmakers and regulators to sort out. [continues 510 words]
To the editor: As a landlord, I want to clarify the "no smoking" policy in my tenants' lease because Alaska voters recently legalized marijuana. One concern of mine has always been the wall-yellowing nicotine damage and odor caused by tobacco smoke. Cannabis smoke doesn't seem to cause this damage. As a private property owner, I make the rules, but I don't see how cannabis consumed in edibles or smoked in moderation has any negative effect on the property value. [continues 105 words]
JUNEAU - Lawmakers overseeing marijuana legislation said they aren't expecting things to be particularly different now that marijuana possession has become legal. With the anticipation of Ballot Measure 2 becoming law today, lawmakers on Monday said they weren't expecting life in Alaska to be particularly different now that possession of up to one ounce of marijuana outside the home and growing up to six plants is no longer a crime. "I don't think you're going to see a big difference," said Sen. Mia Costello, R-Anchorage, during a weekly news conference. "I'm sure there'll be bumps along the way, but we're all in this together." [continues 377 words]
JUNEAU, Alaska - Smoking, growing and possessing marijuana becomes legal in America's wildest state Tuesday, thanks to a voter initiative aimed at clearing away 40 years of conflicting laws and court rulings. Making Alaska the third state to legalize recreational marijuana was the goal of a coalition including libertarians, rugged individualists and small-government Republicans who prize the privacy rights enshrined in the state's constitution. But when they voted 52-48 percent last November to legalize marijuana use by adults in private places, they left many of the details to lawmakers and regulators to sort out. [continues 618 words]
