Alaska ramps up signature drive with sights set on 2014 election
On September 9, MPP announced that Alaska will be one of at least five states targeted to pass a voter initiative to tax and regulate marijuana by 2016. The announcement, which outlined MPP’S 10 state plan, garnered considerable media attention for Alaska, where the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana is currently making headway in its MPP-backed petition drive. With just over 16,000 signatures collected in support of the initiative to tax and regulate marijuana, the campaign is well on its way to reaching its goal of 45,000 signatures by December 1, 2013. The initiative is scheduled to appear on the August 2014 primary-election ballot.
Good news for the campaign came when a spokesperson for Alaska’s Republican Governor Sean Parnell recently announced that the governor will not take a stance on the initiative, which would make it legal for adults 21 years of age and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and up to six plants. If passed, the initiative would create marijuana retail stores, marijuana cultivation facilities, marijuana infused-product manufacturers, and marijuana testing facilities, all of which would operate pursuant to strict regulatory guidelines issued by the state. For a full text of the Alaska initiative, click here.
Considering the complex and unclear nature of marijuana laws that has plagued Alaska for decades, the time for marijuana reform is past due. Despite the fact that in 1975 the Alaska Supreme Court established a state constitutional privacy protection for the possession of less than four ounces of marijuana in the home, in 2006, the state legislature criminalized all marijuana possession. Alaska’s conflicting marijuana laws have resulted in consistently higher charge/arrest rates for marijuana-related drug offenses than for any other drug related offenses in the state, making the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana in Alaska’s success in 2014 all the more critical.
With your support, and the support of volunteers all over the state, the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana in Alaska can pass a clear and sensible initiative that will tax and regulate marijuana. If you are interested in supporting Alaska’s campaign to regulate marijuana, you can volunteer, contribute, or join the campaign on the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana’s website, or contact ballotinitiatives@mpp.org.
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