I think that Anchorage Assembly Chair Dick Traini has a good idea but it needs some follow-through. Treat cannabis as tightly as tobacco, yet as loosely as alcohol. That means places for social use need to be tolerated. Responsible tavern keepers want to provide what their customers want, and to discourage what their neighbors don't want. The same as any other business, cannabis cafes will succeed or fail on how they perform. But they must be allowed to perform, as a necessary shove to push prohibition into the past and regulation into the present.

I miss the North. The grinning children beneath the northern lights in Barrow will never leave me. Please be careful with that Chukchi oil. A spill in Santa Barbara has wounded my heart.

- - Jay Bergstrom

Forest Ranch, Calif.

[end]

FAIRBANKS -- Before Alaska marijuana businesses open their doors, owners will need to know they are growing, testing or selling on land zoned for those activities, local government leaders here say, and residents deserve to know in advance what might or might not be allowed in their neighborhoods.

The state has yet to resolve some key questions about marijuana regulation following voter approval of the legalization initiative last November, but local governments have powers under the measure to establish regulations on commercial activities, though they cannot prohibit personal use.

[continues 511 words]

Anchorage Assembly Chair Dick Traini is proposing to treat marijuana smoke like tobacco smoke when it comes to public facilities, workplaces and schools.

A measure that Traini plans to introduce next week at the Assembly meeting would incorporate marijuana and marijuana products into the city's secondhand smoking law. That means smoking marijuana would not be allowed in public places, workplaces, child care centers, outdoor arenas, stadiums and amphitheaters and municipal facilities, including schools.

People also would not be allowed to smoke within 5 feet of the entrance to a place licensed to serve alcohol, or within 50 feet of a hospital or medical clinic entrance.

[continues 173 words]

The public can now weigh in on Alaska's first round of proposed marijuana regulations.

Local option law and marijuana definitions are the focus of the first wave of regulations, unveiled at the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board's meeting in April.

The proposed definitions include basics like what constitutes a "marijuana plant" and "edible marijuana product," but also what it means to "possess" a plant or help someone grow marijuana.

The definition of possession could affect how many plants are allowed per household. Under Ballot Measure 2, the initiative that legalized marijuana in the state, a person is allowed to possess six marijuana plants. But under the proposed regulations, if marijuana plants are in a person's home, they are potentially in that person's possession, regardless of the number of residents. That would mean only six plants would be allowed in the home, instead of six plants per adult living there.

[continues 150 words]

This week, David asks a two-part question:

I have read the initiative along with the newly passed H.B. 123. I have gone over again and again, and I have yet to see any writing prohibiting a marijuana business from starting before the state starts issuing cannabis business licenses. If anything, I see that it says that a person can, so long as they are 21 or older, act as a lawful business. (Also) H.B. 123 states that one seat on the board is reserved for "one person actively engaged in the marijuana industry," and "marijuana industry" means "a business or profession related to marijuana in which the person is lawfully engaged and that is in compliance with the provisions of state law, including this chapter and regulations adopted under this chapter." How can someone qualify for this seat if what (authorities) talk about is true and no marijuana business can be lawfully engaged at this moment?

[continues 995 words]

From the variety of specialized products to visitors eager to learn industry tips, the Northwest Cannabis Classic in Anchorage on Saturday looked like a typical trade show.

The obvious exceptions were the cannabis plants displayed in glass jars beneath LED lights, helping make what organizers said was the first event of its kind in Alaska since voters approved the legalization of marijuana more than six months ago.

Aimed at sharing information about the fledgling industry, the three-day show at the Dena'ina Center features panels, demonstrations and products that range from lighting technology to smoking instruments to flower enhancers and plant food. It generated a buzz, with about 700 people buying presale tickets and about as many day-of tickets bought on Saturday, said event organizer Cory Wray.

[continues 941 words]

"Foxweed" asks, "Now that pot is legal, there are undoubtedly many readers who have never really partaken much in the subculture. Sooner than we think, many options for smoking pot will become available, so how does one pot? I see talk of sativas and indicas, purples and reds and berries and kushes.

Joints, bongs, pipes, vapes? hash, dab etc. etc. I barely have beers and wines figured out here, help me out?"

Well, you're right, when cannabis finally becomes available for legal retail sale to adults 21 and over, the array of products will be dizzying for people who decide to check out the scene.

[continues 2070 words]

This week we're following up on the driving under the influence discussion published April 8. A few Anchorage readers since then have asked for more clarity about how DUI evidence works with cannabis in Alaska's largest city.

As we discussed that week, the chief chemical in cannabis that's believed responsible for impairment is delta-9 THC. As the body uses that substance, it changes into different, inactive forms of THC that no longer produce a "high," but that are evidence of past use. Levels of active THC high enough to cause impairment typically dissipate after several hours, but the inactive form can last in the body for a month or more depending on individual factors. Both types of THC are detectable in blood tests, but the inactive type is more commonly associated with urine tests like the ones used for employers with zero-tolerance drug policies.

[continues 595 words]

A civilization stands or falls on its oils. Every cell in your body has a protective wall of two layers of interlocked oil molecules. This cell wall determines the health of the cell, by admitting or repelling molecules.

For healthy cells, animals require fats and oils in their diet. Humans require fats, oil and cholesterol for healthy life and clear thinking. The human brain is 25 percent cholesterol.

Every civilization has a significant source of dietary oil. Neanderthals ate meat fat and pine nuts. American small farmers during America's agricultural centuries grew cannabis, flax, sunflowers and nut trees, and ate egg yolks and butterfat. Americans today eat GMO chicken fat, GMO butter, GMO bacon, and, increasingly, GMO canola oil. Alaskans love salmon fat and muktuk. But king salmon, an outstanding fish oil source, is being mismanaged out of existence.

[continues 122 words]

WASILLA -- A different kind of blight is emerging from heroin use in the Valley: discarded hypodermic needles littering roadsides, parks and waterways from Butte to Houston.

Valley residents say they find syringes without trying -- at a school bus stop in Big Lake, riding horses in Houston, in the sand next to Wasilla Lake.

Houston Fire Capt. Christian Hartley found 30 needles in a stretch of road near a gravel pit just off the Parks Highway in April. Last year, most of the hypodermics turned up along the Parks Highway -- maybe users just threw them out vehicle windows, he said -- but this year most cluster along King Arthur Drive, Houston's busiest artery.

[continues 1116 words]

Alaska's first draft marijuana regulations, proposed Thursday during an Alcoholic Beverage Control Board meeting in Anchorage, address what it means to help someone grow marijuana and what local-option law will look like.

The meeting at the downtown Legislative Information Office attracted about two dozen spectators, who lined a large conference room, surrounding board members and agency staff at a table in the center of the room.

A general sense of optimism prevailed among the audience members, many of whom hoped to start marijuana businesses.

[continues 870 words]

JUNEAU (AP) -- The state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board is expected to review possible regulations for the new marijuana industry.

The board is scheduled to meet Thursday in Anchorage to discuss marijuana regulations.

When voters in November approved a ballot issue legalizing limited recreational marijuana, they also directed the board to develop regulations for commercial and retail marijuana sales and cultivation.

The agenda also includes an update on the timeline for drafting the rules.

In February, the board made an emergency regulation defining the public places where marijuana is prohibited. It will consider making that rule permanent on Thursday.

A new five-member marijuana control board that shares staff and resources with the alcohol board is expected to take over the regulatory work eventually. By mid-day Wednesday, there were 89 applicants for the board.

[end]

Alaska's politicos and various allied morality police betray a prevailing public trust: they presently sabotage voters' intent to decriminalize production and use of marijuana. The current soapboxing and grandstanding about control and regulation increase corruption opportunities; likewise, massive regulation invites furthered criminalization.

Anyone who's lived more than a couple decades will recognize the contrived health scare tactics: Protect consumers, and their children, from the long-term effects. First of all, there is no established scientific research, primarily because the government refused to permit legitimate research, or relax federal prohibitions. In fact, there is substantial anecdotal "research" generated by desperate medical needs that makes the current health scares look silly.

The only palpable signs of addiction in this controversy are politicians' attachments to myths and fabrications. They cannot give up their intoxication with power and control - in spite of the facts.

- - Bill McCord

Haines

[end]

For much of his adult life, Brett LeMay grew and sold marijuana.

He preferred growing in trailers. They offered lower overhead costs, and most of the time, neighbors didn't care what he was up to. He'd outfit the trailers to maximize production; cannabis plants would crowd the bedrooms, the kitchen, the bathroom. LeMay slept in the living room.

The illegal grows gave him the money and freedom to live as he wanted in Anchorage. He set his own salary, careful not to sell so much as to draw attention to himself. A self-proclaimed home-body, he used his spare time to teach himself computer programs or go on long drives with his girlfriend.

[continues 1664 words]

On the last day of Alaska's regular legislative session, the state Senate voted on a bill that would clarify municipal regulation of marijuana.

"This is our last marijuana bill," Sen. Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorage, said before the vote. "I think members are relieved by that fact."

The bill wasn't controversial, she said. It had come about at the request of city governments looking for guidance.

The bill went to a vote. It failed, 10-10.

The next day, the bill was sent back to the Senate Rules Committee, where it will remain until legislators gavel in next year, Sen. John Coghill, R-North Pole, confirmed Wednesday.

[continues 928 words]

Last November, Alaskans voted to support the legalization and commercialization of marijuana, following the example of Colorado and Washington. The campaign supporting that ballot measure was the "campaign to regulate marijuana like alcohol."

House Bill 75 is one of the marijuana bills under consideration by the Legislature that seeks to do that - at least to the extent practicable and consistent with how our municipalities manage alcohol establishments and the various licenses under Title 4 (alcohol).

[continues 617 words]

This week, we'll examine a two-part question from Roger about cannabis intoxication and impaired driving. It's been a hot topic in states where cannabis is now legal, and laws, policies and technologies are constantly evolving across the nation. The situation in Alaska is relatively stable because it apparently hasn't changed very much since voters approved the legalization of recreational pot. The Legislature has taken no action, and the ballot measure itself didn't include DUI details. Roger asks:

[continues 1779 words]

The public has kept a watchful eye on the marijuana crime bill circulating in Alaska's Legislature, but regulators and industry supporters say another piece of legislation in the works is far more important to the creation of a regulated marijuana industry.

Currently in the House Judiciary Committee, House Bill 123 would create a Marijuana Control Board tasked with crafting regulations and ensuring that marijuana businesses work within those laws.

The bill also contains an essential aspect of regulating the burgeoning industry: money.

[continues 661 words]

The state House Thursday afternoon passed a bill that would clarify municipal regulation of marijuana businesses and define the number of plants allowed per household.

House Bill 75 clarifies municipalities' processes for registering marijuana businesses; authorizes "marijuana clubs" where the substance could be consumed; gives municipalities power to establish civil and criminal penalties for businesses; defines what the term "assisting" means in terms of helping someone with their plants or marijuana; establishes provisions for communities to prohibit businesses; and establishes a 24-plant limit per household.

[continues 367 words]

When the initiative to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana in Alaska took effect Feb. 24, personal home gardens of six plants total, up to three flowering at a time, became expressly permitted for any Alaskan 21 years or older. But what if someone has no idea where to begin?

There are books and magazines. Cultivation message boards and web forums seem to multiply by the day, but researching all of that and turning it into action takes time. Not to mention that talk of light frequencies, growing media, "nutes," and techniques like ScrOG, FIM, and LST might overwhelm beginners.

[continues 1822 words]