Possessing and selling the synthetic drug Spice is now a crime in Alaska's largest city, as the Anchorage Assembly unanimously passed an ordinance Tuesday evening making "illicit synthetic drugs" illegal.

The crowd clapped as the tally appeared on a large screen in the Assembly chambers.

The ordinance contains broad language that covers both Spice (synthetic cannabinoids) and bath salts (synthetic cathinones). The possession and sale of both is now a misdemeanor crime.

"Not everything will be covered by this ordinance," city prosecutor Seneca Theno told the Assembly, but "this is as broad as we can do right now."

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Six people have died of heroin overdoses in the Alaska capital since February, reflecting a growing crisis across the state and nation. Some Alaskans, including the police, say the time has come for a new approach.

First in an occasional series

JUNEAU -- Heroin's grip on Juneau can be felt in ways both plain and subtle.

A decade of rising abuse can be seen in syringes and foil squares dropped on dog-walking paths and in parking lots.

In grandparents raising toddlers their children are too addicted to care for.

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This week we won't start off with a particular reader's question as we usually do. In the past several weeks, we've received a few inquiries about the same topic: What recourse is there if someone's home grow smells up the neighborhood or condo building to the point it becomes a nuisance to others?

There's a flip-side to that, too. What can home growers do to avoid such a hassle?

Judging just from the Highly Informed inbox, the smell of flowering cannabis may be more noticeable lately, but only slightly. Maybe the recent spate of inquiries have come because Alaska Permanent Fund dividends just dropped, but maybe there are simply more brand-new or beginning home gardeners out there since legalization day. Most of the questions arose from apartment building conflicts, but someone in Anchorage even forwarded a message thread from the Rogers Park community message board in which a few neighbors were discussing what to do about a strong, skunky aroma on one particular street in the neighborhood's northern section.

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On Oct. 16, I took the opportunity to give testimony before the Marijuana Control Board concerning the proposed marijuana regulations. I wanted to make clear my opposition to 3AAC306.030 -- Petition for License in Area With No Local Government. That section will require potential business owners in the unorganized borough to get the permission, in writing, of up to two-thirds of their neighbors, within a radius of up to 5 miles, before the board will consider them for a license.

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Starting next week, federal prison inmates from Alaska facing an average conviction of a decade behind bars for drug offenses will be released early.

The sentence reductions resulted from revisions by an independent judicial body; its new policy could mean shorter imprisonment for tens of thousands of inmates nationwide.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission lowered the penalties for all future federal drug defendants in April 2014. Several months later, the commission granted those reductions to drug offenders already in prison, but its decision to retroactively apply the changes stipulated that no drug offender could be released until a year after the changes came into effect on Nov. 1, 2014.

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The Marijuana Control Board is in the final stages of crafting regulations that will guide Alaska's forthcoming legal marijuana industry. Proponents of Ballot Measure 2 believe the vast majority of rules proposed so far realize both its spirit and intent. However, we are concerned that a few remaining provisions overlook important rights for Alaskans granted under the initiative. By far the most troubling is the fact that the proposed rules do not allow for social consumption in any establishments.

Measure 2 was designed to end marijuana prohibition and replace it with a system in which marijuana is treated similarly to alcohol. It grants many important rights for adults and localities. When we drafted Ballot Measure 2, we also made it a point to protect the rights of responsible business owners who wish to provide a location where adults can consume marijuana with other adults. Those who choose to consume marijuana should have the same right to congregate as those who choose to use alcohol. By allowing adults to consume marijuana legally inside businesses, we reduce the likelihood that they'll consume illegally outside in vehicles, on sidewalks and in parks. This is especially true when it comes to visitors who often don't have other legal options.

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Spice-related medical emergencies spiked again Monday in Anchorage, with the fire department saying it might have made the most transports in one day since Spice emergencies increased this summer.

On Tuesday morning, Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz announced that his administration would be introducing an ordinance that would make the sale and use of Spice a crime and impose penalties far steeper than what is currently on the books.

Erich Scheunemann, assistant chief of emergency medical service operations, said records show around 30 people were taken to hospitals Monday for suspected use of Spice, "tentatively ... the most pickups since mid-July," he wrote.

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Fears that heroin, meth, Spice and other drugs are flooding into rural Alaska has prompted local efforts to staunch the trafficking, and dominated discussions at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention that wrapped after three days on Saturday.

The drug abuse has reached "epidemic" levels in the Dillingham region and elsewhere, officials said, but they added that there are no solid numbers on use.

"It's all anecdotal," said Ralph Andersen, chief executive of the Bristol Bay Native Association. "But we see people who are messed up. In villages it's easy to know when people are normal and when they're not."

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Alaska's Tax Division is in an unusual predicament as the state prepares to receive millions of dollars in marijuana tax money: it's not sure what to do with all that cash.

The problem? Alaska's marijuana businesses are barred from opening bank accounts. That means the money the state collects -- estimated at $5.1 million to $19.2 million for next year -- may be flowing into the state Revenue Department's Tax Division in briefcases and bags.

The scenario is not ideal for the division, which says increased security risks and a lack of manpower are reasons it doesn't want to be physically handling all the money.

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A man who says he suffers from severe Tourette's syndrome told an Anchorage District Court Judge on Friday that three people charged with delivering and possessing marijuana were his caretakers.

All three canna-business owners showed up at the Nesbett Courthouse, but two of the hearings were vacated. Alaska Cannabis Club owner Charlo Greene's case inched forward; attorneys discussed bail conditions and the possibility of moving her charges to a higher court.

Related: Drug charges filed against Alaska canna-business owners Anchorage police arrest marijuana delivery driver in sting operation

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PALMER -- Palmer residents apparently voted to ban commercial marijuana operations, according to early municipal election results, despite residents having voted in favor of legalizing pot when the issue came to a statewide vote last fall.

The other big race in Tuesday's elections here, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough mayor, was too close to call even as a dramatic night ended with results from Talkeetna delayed by a mechanical glitch and hand-delivered by municipal clerks -- and more than 2,000 outstanding ballots yet to be counted.

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I think I have discovered proof that use of marijuana affects brain function, as follows:

A. State officials warned loudly and often that dealing in marijuana is not yet legal and will not be tolerated until regulatory safeguards are approved and in place.

B. At least three pot-peddling businesses were raided and officially directed to cease operations.

C. Last week, three pot-peddling businesses were again raided and the owners charged with pot sales.

Most people know that if you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you always got.

Might it be that not recognizing this would indicate some diminution of cognitive ability?

- - Don Neal

Anchorage

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On a warm and sunny Wednesday afternoon in downtown Anchorage, two men leaned against the outside wall of Bean's Cafe. Their eyes were closed, mouths open, arms hanging limp. Their heads and torsos swayed side to side as employees gathered nearby. An ambulance was on the way.

"Once I see their eyes roll back in their heads, I always call 911," said Andre Boyd, a monitor at the nonprofit, who on Wednesday made the call that brought medics to the agency within minutes. The two men had smoked the synthetic drug Spice, Boyd said.

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Lets be fair, Lets put a moratorium on the selling of alcohol until we can sell marijuana. Fair is fair.

- -- Sharon Webb

Anchorage

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If Alaskans want legal marijuana social clubs, they'll have to ask the Legislature. That was the Marijuana Control Board's message Thursday as it accepted proposed regulations that would specifically prohibit the clubs unless a license type is created by lawmakers.

The vote was taken during the board's two-day meeting in Anchorage this week as the clock ticks down to Nov. 24, the day by which all of Alaska's marijuana regulations must be complete.

The decision was met with dismay by Theresa Collins, owner of Pot Luck Events in Anchorage, whose social club has been operating since March. Her club is one of several around the state that have opened following Alaska's vote to legalize recreational marijuana use in November 2014.

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It is hard for me to comprehend that we live in a state where it will soon be legal to cultivate commercial marijuana, but it is still against the law to grow industrial hemp, one of the world's most versatile and useful crops. Last session I introduced Senate Bill 8 to change that. The bill moved out of the Senate Resources Committee last session, but has yet to be heard in Judiciary. Although the main issue we will be focusing on in the upcoming session is how to deal with the fiscal crisis at hand, it is critical we pass SB 8 before the 29th Legislature comes to an end.

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When selling and manufacturing marijuana is legal in Anchorage, where will pot cultivation facilities and marijuana retail shops appear? What type of advertising will be allowed? When will the businesses open and close?

These are the types of questions now confronting Anchorage city officials, five months before the state of Alaska will receive the first license applications for marijuana businesses.

For months, officials have been examining rules in other cities, particularly in Colorado, and drafting regulations. Now, Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz has formed an internal group to work through what the administration sees as the six biggest issues, according to City Attorney Bill Falsey.

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A few weeks ago, we considered whether cannabis concentrates would eventually become available to retail consumers in Alaska. But a reader identified some uncharted ground in that conversation. "Lady Marmalade" asks:

In discussing the possible future of concentrates, you didn't discuss the limit of less than 76 percent THC in the proposed regulations. What would that mean for dabs? Don't they use concentrates in making edibles? Does that mean that edibles would be lower quality? What would 76 percent mean to that process?

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Struggling with the prospect of handling millions of dollars in cash from commercial marijuana businesses, Alaska's Department of Revenue is holding three brainstorming sessions to get ideas for how to handle the influx of taxes in an industry shut off from basic banking practices.

"It's an uncharted territory. ... We don't have any precedent to go off of, really," said Claire Lettow, regulations specialist for the state Tax Division.

Since marijuana remains illegal federally, Alaska's financial institutions so far aren't opening their doors to commercial businesses. That means, like other states that have legalized recreational marijuana, businesses will be dealing in cash. Potentially a lot of cash.

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Alaska cannabis businesses can sell you a hoodie, so long as the transaction is being recorded in high-definition.

The Alaska Marijuana Control Board covered allowable advertising strategies or retail dispensaries, as well as security protocol last week, on the second day of an extra meeting to consider draft regulations.

Board Director Cynthia Franklin argued Montana's greatest mistake was allowing too much advertising for medical marijuana. Montana legalized medicinal marijuana in 2004 only to have a ballot initiative introduced in 2014 to recriminalize it. This followed a ballooning industry that roused the ire of the state legislators and a 36 percent minority of the population who hadn't supported legal medicinal marijuana in the first place.

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