[h=1]Alaska: Marijuana Legalization Officially Makes August Ballot[/h]
Submitted by steveelliott on Thu, 02/27/2014 - 19:05
By Steve Elliott
Hemp News
Alaska's voters will decide on August 19 if the state will be third to legalize marijuana and regulate and tax it sale.
Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell on Wednesday ordered election officials to put the issue on the ballot, confirming that an initiative effort satisfied the legal requirements, reports Steven Nelson at
US News.
The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana in Alaska turned in more than 45,000 signatures on January 8, about 36,000 of which were validated by state officials. Just more than 30,000 signatures were required to qualify for the ballot.
"A bipartisan tidal wave of public support for regulating marijuana like alcohol in Alaska has pushed this issue onto the ballot, and we will be running an aggressive campaign designed to build on that momentum," said CRMA spokesman Taylor Bickford.
Adults 21 and older would be allowed to have up to an ounce of weed and grow six plants at home if the initiative passes.
Stores selling cannabis would be licensed by the Alaska Alcoholic Beverage Control Board; the Legislature would have the option of creating a Marijuana Control Board.
A quirk in Alaska state law allows the ballot question to appear on the August ballot with primary elections of political parties, rather than on the November general election ballot.
A February 5 survey by Public Policy Polling found 55 percent support among Alaskans for legalization, with 39 percent opposing. A March 2013 poll found 60 percent support; that one was by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research.
Alaska Already Went Legal Twice Via Court Decisions
Alaska was for years the only U.S. state where marijuana was legal, after a 1975 Alaska Supreme Court Decision allowing adults 18 and older to possess four ounces of marijuana and grow 24 plants at home.
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