Here's the sentence that blew my mind last week, and it had nothing to do with Don Young being re-elected. An article about marijuana legalization stated that support for legalization was dropping and had reached a low of 51 percent.

Who ever thought I'd live long enough to find the bottom line of approval on pot legalization being above half?

How did we get from a time when pot was the devil's weed to a time when common sense prevailed?

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FAIRBANKS-Marijuana may be headed toward legalization in Alaska, but don't expect it to be welcome on the state's university campuses.

The University of Alaska indicated on Tuesday that it expects to maintain a restrictive policy toward pot, stating in a memo to students and employees that campus regulations and codes of conduct related to marijuana "are not likely to change."

The use of illegal drugs, including marijuana, will continue to result in disciplinary action, according to the memo from UA General Counsel Michael Hostina. University employees who are subject to drug testing may still be fired for pot use, even if it occurs outside work hours in accordance with state law.

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More than a week after the election, we are still waiting for definitive results in a few races -- most notably the races for U.S. Senate and the governor's office. Those results will become clear fairly soon. In the meantime, we have decided to legalize marijuana, and now it's time to start figuring out exactly what that means.

The passage of Ballot Measure 2 means that the law becomes official 90 days after the election is certified and that state regulators and lawmakers have nine months to create regulations, perhaps including a regulatory agency much like the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. The act provides that the ABC will be charged with enforcing regulations unless a separate Marijuana Control Board is created.

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ANCHORAGE - An Anchorage state legislator plans to introduce the first bill to restrict legal marijuana sales.

Republican Rep. Bob Lynn announced Monday he will introduce the draft legislation when the Legislature begins its next session in January.

Lynn's bill would prohibit the sale of marijuana within 500 feet of any school property and any recreation or youth center. It would also put limitations on marijuana advertising and prohibit pot-related businesses from employing convicted felons.

Vote counting from the Nov. 4 general election shows an initiative to legalize recreational use of marijuana passing by more than 9,600 votes, a margin of about 4.3 percent. There are tens of thousands of early, absentee and questioned ballots still to count. But if the lead holds and the election is certified as planned by Nov. 28, Alaskans 21 and older will be allowed to possess and use marijuana 90 days later, on Feb. 26.

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Legislators still have months to pre-file legislation, but one Anchorage representative says he hopes to start a conversation about drafting marijuana regulations early, after Alaskans voted last week to legalize recreational marijuana.

Rep. Bob Lynn, R-Anchorage, said he plans to introduce legislation in January dealing with several elements of marijuana regulations and safety.

Lynn's bill, currently in draft form, addresses three key marijuana sales issues: Restricting marijuana establishments to a certain distance from schools, churches, recreation and youth centers or public parks; limiting advertising; and barring individuals convicted of a felony from working in or owning a marijuana establishment.

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ABC BOARD OFFERS EARLY INSIGHT INTO BUSINESS LICENSES, RURAL ALASKA REACTS TO MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION

It's been almost a week since Alaskans approved ballot measure 2 legalizing recreational marijuana in Alaska and no surprise: People are still talking about it. Here's a quick rundown of quick marijuana coverage happening in-state and nationally.

The Alaska Alcoholic Beverage Control Board released a short Q&A Monday outlining some of the major questions associated with marijuana legalization. Most of the questions deal with people looking to get business licenses -- appropriate, given that the ABC board or the marijuana control board (if the legislature decides to create it) will be in charge of regulating businesses. The most interesting question addressed is whether the board is keeping a list of businesses or individuals looking to get marijuana business licenses. Short answer?

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After months of debate and decades of semi-legal status, Alaskans voted Tuesday to approve Ballot Measure 2, an initiative legalizing recreational marijuana in Alaska. By approving the measure, Alaska became the fourth state to approve use of the substance, part of a national tide of states considering similar laws.

As of Friday, the measure was ahead by more than 9,600 votes. While other races are still tallying final votes, given the breakdown of Alaska voters, it would be impossible for the outcome to change significantly. The election is expected to be certified by the lieutenant governor's office near the end of November.

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To the editor: After millions of dollars and months of incessant unwanted phone calls, endless radio and television commercials, enough pop-up ads to bring the Internet to a halt and mailboxes stuffed beyond capacity with flyers insisting electing this or that individual to office is sure to lay Alaska and America to waste, we've finally reached the end of the nastiest and most expensive election season in Alaska's history.

What's the result? At this point we're not entirely sure, since two races are too close to call until all ballots have been accounted for. One thing can be stated without any question, however. None of the candidates running for statewide office received as many affirmative votes from the people of Alaska as did the legalization of marijuana.

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After millions of dollars and months of incessant unwanted phone calls, endless radio and television commercials, enough pop-up ads to bring the Internet to a halt, and mailboxes stuffed beyond capacity with fliers insisting that electing this or that individual to office is sure to lay Alaska and America to waste, we've finally reached the end of the nastiest and most expensive election season in Alaska's history.

What's the result? At this point we're not entirely sure, since two races are too close to call until all ballots have been accounted for. One thing can be stated without any question, however: None of the candidates running for statewide office received as many affirmative votes from the people of Alaska as did the legalization of marijuana.

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Two days after voters approved a measure legalizing recreational marijuana in Alaska, law enforcement personnel are starting to ponder what enforcement of personal possession will look like.

The short answer: Nothing changes, at least for now. Most agencies are still reviewing how enforcement will be adapted -- or not -- when the measure becomes law in early 2015.

"Right now we are trying to analyze the initiative and try to determine what are the steps that need to be taken," said John Skidmore, criminal division director for the Alaska Department of Law. "But I don't have an answer as to what that outcome of that analysis is, only that we are starting to look at those things and to work on those questions."

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Alaska voters on Tuesday might have been the fourth state in the nation to approve recreational marijuana legalization, but residents will still have to wait before being able to use legally.

Alaska followed Oregon and Washington D.C. in passing initiatives on Election Day legalizing recreational marijuana. Championed by the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in Alaska, the newly passed Ballot Measure 2 will tax and regulate the substance in a manner similar to alcohol, allowing sales to only those 21 years of age and older. It will tax the substance at $50 per ounce wholesale. Washington state and Colorado both passed similar legalization measures in 2012.

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In the weeks leading up to Election Day, the fate of Ballot Measure 2, which would legalize marijuana in Alaska if approved by voters, seemed far from certain. So, it was with great relief that pro-legalization advocates watched the first results arrive Tuesday, showing the measure passing. And supporters believe what tipped the balance in favor of legalization may have been an unlikely voting bloc: conservatives.

Taylor Bickford, spokesman for the Campaign to Regulate Alcohol Like Marijuana, said that heading into Tuesday, Alaska still seemed like a question mark despite predictions earlier in the year that made the measure's passage seem like a sure bet.

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FAIRBANKS - Ballot Measure 2, the measure to legalize marijuana in Alaska, passed in nearly every precinct in the Fairbanks North Star Borough.

According to latest-available numbers, 56.5 percent of the Fairbanks North Star Borough voted to legalize marijuana on Tuesday, surpassing the statewide vote of 52 percent.

The measure was popular throughout the borough mostly without regard to traditional political leanings of the districts. Of 41 voter precincts in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, only eight didn't break 50 percent in favor of the measure.

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After years of debate -- and decades of semi-legal status -- Alaskans will finally be able to light up legally. On Tuesday, voters approved Ballot Measure 2, an initiative legalizing recreational marijuana in Alaska, by about 52 percent in favor to 48 percent opposed, with 100 percent of the state's precincts reporting.

With the vote, Alaska joins Washington, Colorado and Oregon -- the latter of which also approved a similar initiative Tuesday -- as the first states in the country to legalize pot. Washington and Colorado approved their own initiatives in 2012.

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Brad Johnson clearly and concisely lays out the points of a 1960s TV script in his Alaska Peace Officers Association opinion piece, "Legal marijuana comes at too great a cost" (ADN, Sept. 28). Dr. Marin Granholm agrees in her letter to the editor, "Legalizing pot will have social costs" (ADN, Oct. 13).

I am a 60-year-old white male, Vietnam-era noncombat veteran, multi-skilled, blue-collar worker, and proud father of two grown, fine young men. I have been psychologically scarred by enough legal and illegal mind-altering substances to consider myself an expert among amateurs. In response, I would like to propose my own unsubstantiated hyperbole.

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An enjoyable morning quickly turned into a serious political debate during a Women in Government breakfast meeting this summer. Several people from Colorado had come to Alaska for the WIG conference and I happened to be sitting at their table. After we compared the fishing and recreational opportunities between the two states, the discussion turned to the marijuana initiative. I asked what their experience has been the last eighteen months since the initiative was passed. The conversation stopped. One person finally said, "We had no idea."

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In my Saturday commentary (Vote yes on Ballot Measure 2; end Alaska's failed prohibition of marijuana), the statement that taxation under Ballot Measure 2 will generate $72.5 million in revenue in the first five years referred to a hyperlink in my submitted draft that was omitted from the online version as well. The source is a new report from a group of university and private economists. You can read about it here and follow a link to the report.

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It has been legal for adults to possess and consume marijuana in the privacy of their own homes in Alaska since 1975. What the Ravin decision did not address is acquisition. While one may of course grow for personal use, what ballot measure 2 addresses, as I see it, is commercial production and sale. In other words, today one may smoke pot legally; there's just no legal mechanism to purchase it. One must therefore break the law in order to exercise one's legal right. The current situation is Kafkaesque and morally confusing; ballot measure 2 could resolve these issues.

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I love Alaska. I was born here; and I trained here. I was so proud to represent the United States and Alaska in the Winter Olympics and share my snowboarding medal with the entire state upon my return.

Now I am very happy to raise my family here.

Throughout my life I have embraced health, focus, learning, determination, and helping others to do their best. I know that to succeed, it is important to surround oneself with a supportive, positive, and healthy environment.

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The Poorly Worded, Vague Language of the Measure Leaves Too Many Unknowns

Alaska has a relationship with marijuana grounded more on a constitutional right to privacy than on anything else. The Alaska Supreme Court made that clear with its 1975 ruling commonly known as the Ravin decision, named after Irwin Ravin, the man who challenged his 1972 arrest on a charge of violating the state's law against marijuana possession.

The justices' words should be listened to as the public decides the outcome of Ballot Measure 2, which if approved would allow the production, sale and use of marijuana and marijuana products by people age 21 and older.

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