Alaska becomes 3rd state with legal marijuana

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

BY MOLLY DISCHNER

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) -- Smoking, growing and possessing marijuana becomes legal in America's wildest state Tuesday, thanks to a voter initiative aimed at clearing away 40 years of conflicting laws and court rulings.

Making Alaska the third state to legalize recreational marijuana was the goal of a coalition including libertarians, rugged individualists and small-government Republicans who prize the privacy rights enshrined in the state's constitution.

But when they voted 52-48 percent last November to legalize marijuana use by adults in private places, they left many of the details to lawmakers and regulators to sort out.

Meanwhile, Alaska Native leaders worry that legalization will bring new temptations to communities already confronting high rates of drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence and suicide.

FULL story at link.



In this Feb. 20, 2015 photo, Alaska Cannabis Club CEO Charlo Greene smokes a joint at the medical marijuana dispensary in Anchorage, Alaska. On Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015, Alaska will become the third state in the nation to legalize marijuana. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_LEGAL_MARIJUANA_ALASKA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-02-23-18-01-53

[RKP5637]

1. Excellent! Pot IMO is far better than booze. n/t

[PoliticAverse]

2. Nope, still illegal in Alaska as pot is illegal at the Federal level. n/t

[Omaha Steve]

5. Then how is it legal in Colorado?

[PoliticAverse]

6. It's not. Just because there is no state law against something doesn't make it legal.

If it is illegal at the Federal level it is still illegal in all states.

[bravenak]

7. No. It's legal here. We decided.

[PoliticAverse]

8. That's not how it works. Federal law > state law, despite what certain 'states rights'

advocates may think.

[bravenak]

10. No. It's actually working the opposite. We decided. We the people. Can't take it back now.

They would lose their jobs. Prohibition is stupid and we the people have the right to decide to end it. And we did. In November. Despite what Liberal Drug warriors might think. We can just not vote for them if they want to make trouble. It happened in Nov. Weed won.

[Omaha Steve]

11. Well apparently the federal pot police are taking a smoke break

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Partygoers dance and smoke pot during the 420 marijuana celebration in Denver this year. Colorado’s legalization of marijuana, first for medical purposes in 2009 and then for everybody over 21 this year, has led to a surge of marijuana-related arrests and seizures across the border in western Nebraska, straining police budgets.


With pot legal in Colorado, western Nebraska police appeal for help, saying their counties are deluged with drugs: http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/with-pot-legal-in-colorado-western-nebraska-police-appeal-for/article_d8b5a84a-9449-5439-9e25-e953addc72f7.html

POSTED: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2014 10:30 PM | UPDATED: 4:24 PM, TUE SEP 9, 2014.
By David Hendee / World-Herald staff writer

OGALLALA, Neb. — Lawmen on the state’s marijuana frontier asked for help Monday to identify drug-fogged drivers and to stem growing marijuana access and use by young people.

During a hearing of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee in Ogallala, western Nebraska law enforcement officers outlined the impact of Colorado’s legalization of marijuana for medical 
and recreational use.

“Colorado’s legalization of marijuana has completely changed the landscape involving the marijuana that we encounter,” said Scotts Bluff County Sheriff Mark Overman.

Overman said the potency of the pot encountered by law enforcement agencies has increased dramatically. Prices have at least tripled and there is a marked increase in the number of kids as young as 14 who are being ticketed for possession.

FULL story at link.

[PoliticAverse]

12. Until the Feds don't...

DEA Raids Legal Medical Marijuana Dispensaries In Washington, 'Humiliating' Shop Owners
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/25/dea-raid-marijuana-dispensaries-washington-state_n_3653071.html

[Omaha Steve]

13. From the link Posted: 07/25/2013 1:32 pm EDT Updated: 07/25/2013 2:55 pm EDT

Year and 1/2 old. So on average getting caught statewide in Colorado is a small chance?

[PoliticAverse]

14. I suppose that depends on what happens in 2016. Should a drug-warrior get elected President

in 2016 the chances of getting arrested for running a pot dispensary could increase greatly.

[Omaha Steve]

15. Agreed

[elias49]

17. You can't put the cat back in the bag.

I think that even most republicans realize the 'War on Drugs' was a failure. Do we start the 'War on Drugs: Part 2'?

[android fan]

23. That drug warrior will be impeached within minutes of being elected.

I can promise you that.

[eggplant]

31. It would be political suicide.

Like same-sex marriage, they ain't puttin' the genie back in the bottle.

[Gore1FL]

18. Try to enforce it.

It may not be de jure'. It's de facto.

[cascadiance]

24. Watch what happens with these federal bills...

If they pass, then it would be hard to roll back, even at the federal level.

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/bills-introduced-congress-legalize-legitimize-marijuana-federal-level/

Next up for Alaska... Put in Vote by Mail! Every other state that's legalized marijuana also have vote by mail too (Oregon, Washington, Colorado).

[Reter]

29. It violates the 10th Amendment anyway

In the 20's, they knew how the law worked. You would need a Constitutional Amendment to ban a product, and they did, with booze. Banning it on the federal level would have violated the Constitution. By the 70's, however, no one cared any more and the Bill of Rights died.

[TeamPooka]

32. Tell that to abortion doctors in the midwest. nt

[madokie]

9. Sounds like nittin' picks to me

Who knows when you run out of them to nit?
Who cares the official word as the only thing that matters is the local cops won't be busting people anymore, on the local level

[android fan]

22. I guess you haven't heard of the 10th Amendment

it's what's protecting our right to smoke weed.

Yes, I live in a legal state.

I love it, and many do - and the coffers of the state is alread exceeded 60m in taxes collected for the entire year of 2014 in marijuana alone.

We expect another record year!

[PoliticAverse]

28. I don't think the Supreme Court is about to overturn all federal drug regulation based on the

10th amendment.

[Comrade Grumpy]

30. Yes, but the Supreme Court can't make a state criminalize marijuana, either.

Federal law may prohibit marijuana, but states don't have to.

Federal courts may be able to stop states from taxing and regulating it, but they can't make them criminalize it.

I think federal judges may pause before going down that road, though, since it would leave marijuana in those states legal, but untaxed and unregulated.

The federal government could enforce federal pot prohibition in states where it is legal, but they don't have enough DEA agents.

Better to just yield to reality. The times they are a-changing.

[DeSwiss]

37. That's only if one recognizes federal laws as valid.

- You know, like the one's making corporations persons?

[PoliticAverse]

39. All federal laws are invalid now, or just the ones you don't like? n/t

[MrMickeysMom]

3. One by one...

I even expect PA to be in there, since legislation has begun.

I don't want to hold my breath on that one…

[IdiotsforPalin]

4. Brisket, Swallow and Trash

Palin will be ecstatic!!!!!

[Aldo Leopold]

16. It was also legal when I lived there in the early 90s.

You could legally possess a small amount, but could not, if I recall, grow it, purchase it, or sell it.

[Phlem]

19. Unfortunately you still need a medical marijuana license for

the average citizen to grow his/her own in Washington State unless your licensed with the state to grow to fill dispensaries. It's all about the money over here.

[yuiyoshida]

20. MAYBE that will keep Sarah Palin at home

and off the news circuits.

[KamaAina]

41. Alas, Wasilla has passed a local ban

Can't be disrupting the meth trade, now, can we?

[thesquanderer]

42. I suspect that Sarah has been inhaling for quite some time. (n/t)

[Fred Sanders]

21. Native American communities might find themselves thankful if drugs, including alcohol were replaced by weed.

Alcohol is not just a drug, it is a poison...it kills brain cells, just like poisons do.

[Scuba]

25. That Democrats are ceding this issue to "a coalition including libertarians ...

... rugged individualists and small-government Republicans" is beyond stupid.

[Phlem]

26. yep.

This should be championed.

[TeamPooka]

35. It a winning isue but they are scared idiots.

[Scuba]

36. Or they don't want to win.

[bobjacksonk2832]

27. Excellent news.

Hopefully this will spread to the other states in this country. The "War on Drugs" really needs to come to an end sooner or later. It's been mostly fruitless, and has cost the taxpayers way too much. Besides, marijuana is no more harmful than alcohol or tobacco, both of which are 100% legal.

[davidpdx]

33. Ah I see Oregon and Alaska approved it at the same time

But the Alaska law went into effect sooner. The one in Oregon isn't until July 1st.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

34. YES!! Wisconsin is up next!!

[DeSwiss]

38. K&R

[Jesus Malverde]

40. bump...nt