Alaska: Pot petition soars past signature goal
http://m.ktuu.com/news/pot-petition-soars-past-signature-goal/-/21045138/23556100/-/rkn33yz/-/index.html
Petitioners looking to let voters decide if pot should be legal in Alaska now have more than 44,000 signatures—about 15,000 more than necessary—nearly a month before the their Jan. 21 deadline.
A representative with the “Campaign to Regulate Marijuana” (CRM) said Wednesday petitioners have collected 44,845 signatures. State law requires 31,169 names for a petition to go before voters. Those working with the campaign say they’re working toward an internal goal of more than 45,000 signatures before they formally submit the petition.
The legalization effort proposes far more than simply flipping the switch on marijuana from illegal to legal: the petition includes a seven-page, near-complete package of legislation that lays out a suite of comprehensive new laws that would regulate the growing, processing, selling, and use of the drug in Alaska.
In addition to creating licensing and oversight for the cultivation and sale of the drug, the petition also suggests a tax of $50 per ounce at the retail level.
Anchorage police and Alaska State Troopers estimate the street value of one ounce of marijuana—roughly the weight of a pack of cigarettes—between $250 and $350 dollars in the Anchorage and Southcentral region. That would make the $50 tax roughly equal to 20 percent tax per ounce, should the petition be approved and enacted by voters.
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= new reply since forum marked as read
and the case of Ravin v. State, which ruled that possession of up to an ounce for personal use in one's home was protected by the privacy clause of Alaska's constitution. There was later a legislative attempt to recriminalize it, and it's been kind of languishing in the courts ever since. Our statutes are kind of vague and the police seldom prosecute unless someone has a major grow going on. This law would bring it out of the shadows and allow us to have shops like Washington and Colorado and for the weed to be taxed.
I read recently that Alaska has the highest per capita pot use of any state in the country, something like 16% of adults. There's a lot of home grown up here, and that probably won't change, although having some variety would be nice. 
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ummm - U trying to tell us ya never heard of BC Bud?
I've heard it's grown closer to Alaska than most of Canada . . .
I could be wrong tho . . . .
CC
ps: Have a great holiday season
High res pic @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Iditarod_Ceremonial_start_in_Anchorage,_Alaska.jpg
So, we can turn this state into a True Lone Star State.
Good Luck, and I hope they continue to collect signatures until the deadline. That should really show how much people are aware and awake!
You'd think it would be fairly easy to find.
Send up the Pot Signal!
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it was about $250-300. $40 for an eighth, though, as long as I can remember here. The price always went down with quantity.
Of course, I remember the days of the $15 lids, too, but that wasn't in Alaska. And half of that would be stems and seeds. Things have changed in 45 years.
but the legislature did pass a law to recriminalize it back in the '90s sometime. It's been appealed a couple of times, and the present state of the law is kind of murky, so I think people just want some clarity -- and places to shop.
Here is what NORML says about the state of Alaska's law at the moment.
http://norml.org/laws/item/alaska-penalties
There are very few arrests here unless someone is obviously growing for commercial purposes.
Possession for Personal Use
Use or display of any amount or possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana is a class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days imprisonment and/or a fine up to $2,000. However, if the use, display, or possession was for personal use and occurred in the confines of the offender's private residence, there is no penalty and this act is protected under the Alaskan constitutional right to privacy. It is class A misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year imprisonment and/or a fine up to $10,000 to possess 1 ounce or more but less than 4 ounces of marijuana. However, if the possession was for personal use and occurred in the confines of the offender's private residence, there is no penalty and this act is protected under the Alaskan constitutional right to privacy. Possession of 4 or more ounces of marijuana is a class C felony punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment and/or a fine up to $50,000.
You can also grow up to 25 plants for "personal use."
Thanks for the thread, Blue In AK.
