The Fairbanks North Star Borough appears to be moving quickly toward considering regulations for the legal sale of marijuana in the borough following statewide voter approval of Ballot Measure 2 last month.

Mayor Luke Hopkins deserves some praise for moving ahead briskly to ensure the borough is ready, saying he wants to introduce proposals as early as February for consideration by the Borough Assembly.

And he's doing it with community involvement. He said he plans to create a panel that will begin work in January and include representatives of the local municipal governments as well as people from the fields of law enforcement, education and substance abuse treatment. And he expects to also include people who have championed legalized marijuana.

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Is it ethical for an Alaska attorney to smoke marijuana? The Alaska Bar Association's Ethics Committee has weighed in with an informal opinion on that question and two other key ethical issues surrounding attorneys and soon-to-be legalized recreational marijuana in Alaska.

The ethics committee examined the issues in an analysis posted to the Alaska Bar Association's website, "particularly in light of the conflict between state and federal law," the analysis states. Though recreational marijuana will become legal Feb. 24 in Alaska, it remains illegal under federal law.

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Some cannabis start-ups aren't waiting for "technical" legalization before openly doing business.

Advertised online as "the first cannabis delivery service to come to Alaska," Discreet Deliveries is open for business, and flagrantly illegal.

The Wasilla-based start-up offers fast, free delivery of cannabis "smokeables" and "edibles," anywhere in Anchorage, Eagle River, or the Mat-Su Valley.

Its extensive menu includes finely cured buds of Zero Dark Thirty, a hybrid strain of cannabis that's high in both psychoactive and medicinal compounds, for prices ranging from $60 for one-eighth of an ounce to $320 for a full ounce. In the edibles category, Jolly Lollis are four for $28 ("one lolly, one serving"), Cannabis Carrot Cake Cookies are two for $20, and, for connoisseurs with classic taste, Baked Brownies are $20 each.

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Gov. Walker wants to extend the timeline for marijuana regulation. Grace Jang is quoted as saying the "new industry will require regulatory infrastructure that Alaska has to create from scratch ..." (ADN Dec. 20).

Three thoughts:

1. The Alaska Department of Law lists the minutes from the Constitutional Convention, which took all of 72 days to complete. Voters have given the Legislature nine months.

2. Why start from scratch? There are four other examples already on the books: Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Alaska alcohol. Alaska is not them but we're close enough to start from their efforts. Think they have forgotten some little nook or cranny; it will be easier to identify if you don't start from scratch. The topics and subtopics ad nauseam are known, the outline is there. Four big flip charts and an outlined fifth ought to do it.

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The Fairbanks North Star Borough will follow Anchorage in forming a working group to explore the legalization of marijuana in Alaska and the crafting of laws specific to local commercial regulation.

On Tuesday, the Anchorage Assembly's new Committee on Regulating and Taxing the Cultivation, Manufacture and Commercial Sale of Marijuana met briefly to outline how it will work to craft marijuana laws in Alaska's largest city.

Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Luke Hopkins said he too would form a working group to begin crafting ordinances addressing legalization to present to the borough assembly. In an interview Tuesday, Hopkins said the makeup of the body had not been finalized but that it would include community stakeholders and be led by borough Community Planning Director Christine Nelson.

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FAIRBANKS - Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Luke Hopkins plans to launch a working group to help form local regulations for commercial marijuana.

Following a community town hall meeting earlier this month that included representatives from the three local governments, Hopkins said he plans to bring forward borough regulations by as early as February.

"I certainly don't want to sit in my office and say it ought to be this," he said, "This is a community effort."

Specifically, the purpose of the group is to "develop zoning standards, production and sales requirements, and determine what other use issues need to be considered for adoption by the assembly and, to the extent needed, city councils."

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Gov. Bill Walker is reviewing whether the state can extend its timeline for crafting marijuana regulations, spokesperson Grace Jang said Friday.

Extending the deadline could aid in crafting better regulations, Jang said. But marijuana industry advocates fear the delay could negatively influence the Legislature, which can repeal the initiative legalizing recreational marijuana two years after its effective date.

"The initiative creates a new industry that will require regulatory infrastructure that Alaska has to create from scratch and within a very short period of time. It's no easy task," Jang said.

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The Anchorage Assembly has formed a committee whose sole focus is to consider the implementation of marijuana sales.

Assembly Chair Dick Traini announced Friday that the committee will look at regulation and taxation of the cultivation, manufacture and commercial sale of marijuana in Anchorage. Assemblyman Ernie Hall will chair the committee, which also includes Assembly members Pete Petersen, Amy Demboski and Paul Honeman.

It's the latest move by the city in response to Ballot Measure 2, the initiative that legalized recreational marijuana in Alaska. Creation of the committee comes days after the Assembly heard four hours of public testimony on an ordinance that would have banned commercial marijuana in the municipality. The measure, introduced by Demboski and co-sponsored by Honeman and Traini, was defeated 9-2.

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FAIRBANKS (AP) -- Alaska Gov. Bill Walker says he's considering a 90-day delay in implementing legal marijuana sales.

Alaska voters in November approved legalizing recreational use of marijuana.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports Walker told the Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce he's exploring a delay in the part of the measure that allows for commercial sales.

The ballot measure specified that adults no longer would be arrested under state law for possessing up to an ounce of pot outside their homes 90 days after election results were certified. That date is Feb. 24.

The state has nine months more to produce regulations for commercial sales, three months to begin accepting applications and three months after that to issue permits.

Commercial growers could produce marijuana for sale in May 2016 under the timeline.

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FAIRBANKS - Gov. Bill Walker is looking into delaying parts of the ballot initiative legalizing marijuana possession and sales.

Walker, in comments to an invite-only meeting hosted by the Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce earlier this week, said his administration is exploring delaying parts of the bill that allow for the commercial sale of marijuana by 90 days.

The comments were in response to a question about how Walker's approaching regulations that, in the audience member's opinion, will be "quite a challenge for the administration."

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Looking at Alaska's present economic status and the history about the vote to move the capital, it is well within the rights of the state Legislature to ignore the vote to legalize pot.

Anyone who saw the state ignore the vote to move the capital should have no trouble agreeing that legalization of pot is now an unaffordable vote that will only increase the deficits for the foreseeable future. There are way too many other priorities in Alaska needing attention.

So all you pot smokers should simply carry on illegally as it apparently never stopped you in the past, and the rest of us can focus on making clearheaded decisions about what this state needs.

- - Don Ingraham

Chugiak

[end]

An ordinance that would have banned commercial marijuana in Anchorage failed after four hours of public testimony and debate in Assembly chambers Tuesday night.

The Assembly voted 9-2 just after 10 p.m. to kill the measure. Only members Amy Demboski and Paul Honeman supported the measure.

Demboski introduced the proposal last month, hoping the city would take a "wait and see approach" as state lawmakers craft marijuana regulations.

But several Assembly members expressed concern that a ban would disconnect them from conversations regarding marijuana regulations at the state level.

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On Nov. 4, Alaskans voted in favor of Ballot Measure 2 -- an initiative to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol.

Most Anchorage voters thought that was the end of it, that the state would develop guidelines for the marijuana Industry and that a responsible, regulated industry would begin to replace the current marijuana black market. And that's as it should have been.

Unfortunately, that's not what is happening in Anchorage. On Nov. 18 before the election results were even certified -- Assembly Member Amy Demboski proposed an ordinance (AO 2014-148 on the agenda for the Dec. 16 Assembly meeting) that would ban all commercial marijuana activities from the Municipality of Anchorage immediately.

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As a lifelong Alaskan and five year Anchoragite, I was surprised and dismayed to hear that the Anchorage Assembly was considering an ordinance prohibiting the establishment of marijuana businesses. My schedule prevents me from attending the public hearing scheduled for Dec. 16, so I felt compelled to write this commentary.

The idea of taking unilateral action in order to "wait and see" is logically inconsistent. There is no expiration date on the decision to "opt out." It would be more sensible for the Assembly to "wait" until the regulatory authorities were nearing completion of their work and then "see" if those regulations conflicted with the municipality's best interests.

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Residents will get a chance to testify Tuesday on whether the Anchorage Assembly should vote to ban commercial marijuana facilities in Alaska's largest city.

The ordinance, introduced by Eagle River Assembly member Amy Demboski, has caused supporters and opponents of the initiative, just weeks past the election, to regroup around the measure.

Demboski's ordinance, if approved by the Assembly, would allow the city to accept the "opt out" provision of Ballot Measure 2, the initiative legalizing recreational marijuana in Alaska.

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To the editor: I would like to offer an alternative proposal for local governments to consider than the suggestion of the Dec. 6 News-Miner editorial on "Regulating Marijuana on the Local Level." The editorial encouraged the borough and cities to move with urgency to get local regulations in place before the Legislature enacts statewide laws. At the same time, they recommended more listening sessions be held to provide input.

The truth is, as last week's public town meeting showed, the rhetoric is still the same as we have all heard for the past year during the campaign.

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Linden Staciokas Chronicles of a Diagnosis

FAIRBANKS - I have never used any illegal drugs. For one thing, I always have been too cheap to spend the money to get stoned. And I could never stomach the thought of using a substance that had passed through who knew how many grimy hands, adulterating it with who knew what. When I go to a restaurant I have to force myself not to think about the number of opportunities there are for my food to be sneezed on between the kitchen and my table; the idea of using unregulated drugs practically makes me break out in hives.

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The Alcoholic Beverage Control Board has been busy since Alaskans voted to legalize marijuana in November. Members have been inundated with questions, moving swiftly to provide information to the public and working to inform themselves in order to begin crafting marijuana rules when the ballot initiative goes into effect in February.

But what kind of work they'll actually have to do remains unclear if a bill pending from Sen. Lesil McGuire goes through.

McGuire said Thursday she intends to introduce legislation that would create a marijuana control board charged with crafting and implementing marijuana rules. McGuire, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wants to make it clear that the Legislature will be addressing marijuana legalization. With that, she feels the first step is creating a separate board to regulate the substance.

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City, Borough Governments Need to Set Up Rules Before the State Does to Meet Community Expectations

This week's meeting of Fairbanks-area government leaders about how to regulate the sale of marijuana went well enough following last month's passage of Measure 2 on the statewide ballot.

But the town hall meeting hosted by leaders of the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly and the cities of North Pole and Fairbanks should be followed up by a series of more localized listening sessions.

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ANCHORAGE - As legislators soon will turn to the regulation of legal marijuana in Alaska and determining what their role should be in it, one resource will be a legislative analysis requested by the incoming chair of the state Senate Judiciary Committee and released publicly this week.

Anchorage Sen. Lesil McGuire said Thursday she asked for the study, prepared by the Legislature's research services analysts, following voters' approval of Ballot Measure 2 in this year's general election. The 36-page report McGuire's office released this week answers some basic questions about implementing marijuana legalization by comparing efforts in Washington and Colorado to what might happen in Alaska, in terms of costs to the state and tax revenue it might generate, and lays out in what areas of the law legislators have influence.

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