When it comes to legalizing marijuana in Alaska, what exactly is the advantage of abandoning the status quo?

The initiative process in Alaska is a playground for Outside bamboozlers and monied special interests that want, even need, to dodge the give and take -- the vetting, the debate, the political free-for-all of the legislative process to get their way.

Despite the progressive malarkey and populist romanticism of having the people rise up against "The Man," initiatives are, as the late Washington Post columnist David Broder pointed out, "alien to the spirit of the Constitution."

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Each of us living in this great state knows Alaska offers many things to all residents. We are surrounded by amazing beauty that nearly a million people pay to experience each summer. We each receive an annual dividend from the natural resources developed in the oil fields and we are blessed with neighbors and friends who look out for one another.

In Alaska, an ordinary citizen or group of citizens has the ability to decide an issue is so important that every registered voter in the state has the right to express an opinion on the topic. This November's general election ballot includes several such issues. Our Catholic Church teaching requires us to vote with an informed conscience on issues that will affect the greater good. These are my thoughts for consideration on Ballot Measure 2.

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I have received the state of Alaska official election pamphlet and like many others was disappointed with the bias shown on Ballot Measure 2. If the state is going to estimate the cost on how much to regulate marijuana, it should have published the $11 million a year it costs the public to maintain prohibition. On April 13, the Alaska Dispatch News released an article titled "Notable moments in 40 years of Alaska's history with marijuana." The article reported that the ACLU estimates it costs taxpayers $11 million a year to enforce marijuana prohibition. Every 4.32 hours an Alaskan is arrested for possessing marijuana. The No campaign claims the business community supports their cause, and therefore, they shouldn't mind picking up the tab as state revenues continue to decline.

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I just received the Division of Elections vote book for 2014. The section that asks Alaskans to say yes or no to the legalization of pot is a blatant campaign against pot. I am to understand that the voting info booklet we received is supposed to present the pro and con of an initiative in equal share. I am getting sick of the manipulations by heavyweights in Alaska who will do anything to change outcomes to their favors. It is my opinion that to vote against the pot initiatives is to vote in favor of keeping its control in the hands of gangsters and the illegal elements.

- -- Pat Wendt

Soldotna

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To the editor:

Is marijuana really that safe? No, not really. Marijuana is a dangerous and illegal drug in the U.S.

I am a middle school student, and we have been learning about the harmful effects of marijuana and other drugs. Marijuana causes memory problems, breathing problems, depression, lack of motivation, reproduction problems and respiratory problems and it has three times the cancer-causing chemicals that tobacco does.

Students who use it are more likely to drop out of school. It causes car crashes and leads to the use of other drugs. Marijuana has tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which is the chemical that makes you high.

In the early 1960s and 1970s, marijuana had lower levels of THC and it wasn't as dangerous, but it wasn't safe either. Nowadays the drug companies want more money by legalizing marijuana.

In my opinion, we shouldn't legalize marijuana.

Vanessa Lian Osorio

Fairbanks

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As both sides of the campaign fight to find support for or against marijuana legalization, one group has remained steadfast in their opposition: Alaska police chiefs.

Ten police chiefs met Wednesday in Anchorage to emphasize something voters have been hearing for months: that the heads of Alaska police departments are firmly against Ballot Measure 2, an initiative that would legalize and tax marijuana for those 21 and over in Alaska.

The chiefs are from a broad swath of the state, from rural villages to Alaska's largest city. At a press conference Wednesday, the chiefs reiterated their own concerns as well as those from the Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police. That organization, which represents about 150 chiefs and commanders across Alaska, released a survey in June saying that local law enforcement could see up to $6 million in increased costs should Ballot Measure 2 pass. They also released a 14-point reasoning earlier this summer arguing why Alaskans should not support legalizing recreational marijuana.

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Our son became addicted to marijuana and alcohol at the age of 13. He died in the hospital at the young age of 34. I ask you to think seriously how you will vote on Ballot Measure 2. Two wrongs do not make a right, especially in this case. Neither marijuana nor alcohol is safe; when you combine the two they can kill you. There is no amount of revenue worth the potential pain and suffering to make, market and sell a product. Ballot Measure 2 is vague and convoluted. Ballot Measure 2 is a means for individuals to get their foot in the door, then start branching out and marketing unlimited products. You can be cool and not fool with marijuana. Now is not the time and Alaska is not the place. I ask you to stand up and just vote no on Ballot Measure 2.

- - Don Warble

Palmer

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In regards to the Ballot Measure 2 marijuana legalization issue: I'm not going to get into the specific arguments of either side because neither side is listening to anyone or anything that doesn't support their view, myself included. I've seen the negative results of marijuana use first-hand, and nothing anyone says or does, including legalizing it, will change my perception of the drug or of those who use it.

However, I would like to call attention to one tactic the Yes on 2 crowd is using that I feel is disingenuous. Many marijuana supporters will make the case that it is OK to use marijuana and OK to legalize that use because alcohol is worse and alcohol is legal. (One variation is to say tobacco is worse than marijuana so marijuana is okay.) This makes less than no sense at all. If alcohol and tobacco are so evil (and you won't get any argument from me), then instead of legalizing another evil (marijuana), how about we just ban the other evil that is legal?

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Instead of tapping the Permanent Fund we need to focus on what is in front of us on the upcoming ballot and vote yes for the regulation and taxation of cannabis. Granted its not going to solve all of our financial problems but it certainly will make a dent in it - the millions of dollars it would make, not to mention save on enforcement/incarceration/prosecution costs. Even if they did have to train police because of it (which I think is a farce) the incoming monies would outweigh any going out. People don't understand how huge this market is and whether Ballot Measure 2 passes or not, the market is here to stay and will only grow. We need to decide if keeping this benign substance illegal is worth the costs. Vote yes on 2.

- - Garrett Steiglemen

Matanuska-Susitna Borough

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Really? The spokesman for the vote Yes on Ballot Measure 2 campaign said that it would be "wildly irresponsible" to make an estimate on how much money commercializing marijuana would bring into Alaska. (ADN, Sept. 11)

Here's what is "wildly irresponsible." It is wildly irresponsible to ask Alaskans to vote for something when you refuse to provide critically important information about it. We already know that it will cost our state government up to $7 million to legalize marijuana, and an additional $6 million to local governments for increased costs to police. That's just the start of the costs. Ka-ching. If you look at what is going on in Colorado you see more emergency room visits, more homelessness, more problems with smoking marijuana in schools and more suspensions, and the list goes on.

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Regulation and education are effective and proven alternatives to the prohibition of tobacco and alcohol, and Alaskans have a chance this November to do the same for marijuana.

Despite over 70 years of federal prohibition, millions of Americans are currently purchasing and consuming marijuana.

But only in the states of Colorado and Washington are these transactions legal, regulated, and taxed.

In these two states, consumers have the ability to purchase a product that is of known quality and potency and that is appropriately packaged and labeled.

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Everyone has something to say on the marijuana issue, it's just that not everyone has said it yet.

For the life of me I can't understand the rush to legalize marijuana in our state, as Ballot Measure 2 would do. It reminds me of the herd mentality of the lemmings stampeding off the cliff with little thought to the consequences.

The fact that Colorado and Washington state have recently legalized marijuana should give us pause to consider the impacts. We should wait and see how both the Colorado and Washington efforts unfold. There is no incentive to be among the first.

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Regarding Craig Medred's thoughtful Sept. 24 column, Big Marijuana already exists in the form of violent drug cartels. These are ruthless people who cut off heads to resolve business disputes, sell drugs to anyone regardless of age, and have a vested financial interest in providing cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin to consumers.

Like it or not, marijuana is here to stay. We can collect taxes on legal marijuana or we can subsidize drug cartels. Punitive marijuana laws have little, if any, deterrent value. Despite the dire predictions of drug warriors, the sky is not falling in Colorado.

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ANCHORAGE - Parents aligned with campaigns on opposing sides of a ballot measure to legalize marijuana in Alaska spoke out Thursday, either saying that legal pot would be harmful to their children or that it would be a better way to keep the drug out of their kids' hands.

The initiative, Measure 2 on the Nov. 4 ballot, aims to make the use and cultivation of marijuana legal in Alaska for people 21 years of age and older. It would also direct the state to start a process to regulate and tax the sale of pot.

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Now, hypocrisy and contradictions in politics have always existed. However, what we are seeing this year is so blatant, it's as if they think they can hide it in plain sight.

This type of extremism leads to a dishonest discussion about how we should handle marijuana and poses an obstacle to understanding how we can best help those struggling with addiction, rather than criminalizing them.

These same marijuana fearmongers, however, often discuss alcohol in a very dismissive way. Dave Stieren, a local radio talk show host who has railed against marijuana as something that will bring down our democracy, as we know it, often discusses alcohol in a very playful and dismissive matter.

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Opposition Counters Pro-Legalization Effort to Gain Support of Alaska Parents

Alaskans on both sides of Ballot Measure 2 on Thursday asked voters to consider one question: Will legal, regulated sales keep marijuana out of the hands of young people or give them easier access to it?

The answer to that question depends on which campaign you ask.

The two sides presented their cases in dueling press conferences related to the yes campaign's introduction of a coalition of parents in favor of the initiative, which seeks to legalize and regulate recreational marijuana in Alaska for those 21 years and older. The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in Alaska on Thursday announced the support of 35 Alaska parents and the launch of an ad campaign that will specifically target Alaska moms and dads.

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With two words, Anchorage television reporter Charlo Green has become a vi-lebrity -- or "viral celebrity," as US Magazine calls it now vying with Alaska pol-lebrity Sarah Palin for national attention, and proving that.... Well, it's almost scary to go on. Who even wants to think about how this state must look to the rest of the country at the moment? Reasonable Americans can only be thinking Alaska is the airhead capital of the continent.

Granted, Greene's TV sign-off made more sense than Palin's 2008 vice-presidential blathering about Putin rearing his head, but only because Greene used simple, declarative sentences that are easily understood by everyone.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A television reporter quit her job on live TV with a big four-letter flourish after revealing she owns a medical marijuana business and intends to press for legalization of recreational pot in Alaska.

After reporting on the Alaska Cannabis Club on Sunday night's broadcast, KTVA's Charlo Greene identified herself as the business' owner.

"Everything you've heard is why I, the actual owner of the Alaska Cannabis Club, will be dedicating all my energy toward fighting for freedom and for fairness, which begins with legalizing marijuana here in Alaska," she said during the late Sunday evening newscast. "And as for this job, well not that I have a choice, but f-- it, I quit."

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The Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday voted 9-2 to approve a resolution opposing a ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana use in Alaska.

The resolution, introduced Friday by Assemblyman Dick Traini, cited potential pitfalls of legalization in Alaska including conflicts with marijuana enforcement at the federal level, the safety of edibles products with regard to children, and costs related to schools and law enforcement.

On Tuesday night, two other Assemblymen, Paul Honeman and Tim Steele, signed on as co-sponsors of the measure.

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For the past two weeks, Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell has traveled across Alaska, hosting hearings on the ballot initiatives Alaskans will vote on in November.

One of those has been Ballot Measure 2, which would legalize recreational marijuana in Alaska for those 21 and older and regulate it in a manner similar to that of alcohol. The hearings are intended to give people a chance to ask questions of state officials and to voice their concerns.

For a crowd of about 70 people at Anchorage's Dena'ina Center Tuesday night, questions to state officials were few, but concerns -- and accusations -- about the campaigns were many.

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