
New bill introduced to create a Marijuana Control Board; proponents launch 'consume responsibly' ad campaign
As marijuana officially becomes legal for adults in Alaska today (Feb. 24) per Ballot Measure 2, proponents kick off an ad campaign encouraging adults to consume responsibly, and, according to the Alaska Dispatch News, Alaska Gov. Bill Walker introduced a bill that proposes the creation of a Marijuana Control Board to regulate the newly legalized marijuana industry in the state and enforce state laws.
Ballot Measure 2–which was approved by more than 50 percent of state voters during the November 2014 elections–allows adults (21 and older) to possess up to one ounce of marijuana, grow up to six marijuana plants in their homes, and possess the yield of those plants in the location where it was grown. Public marijuana consumption remains illegal.
The Alaska Legislature is in the process of establishing regulations around now-legal marijuana cultivation and sales, and other regulations around the legalized market still are being developed.
Governor Walker's bill is a step toward affecting the development and enforcement of those regulations with the creation of a Marijuana Control Board (MCB) to regulate the market. Under Senate Bill 60, member of the state's Alcoholic Beverage Control Board would serve the new MCB, reports the Dispatch News. The MCB also would "give the board 'some role in shutting down the black market,'" ABC Director Cynthia Franklin told the Dispatch News.
Meanwhile, proponents of Ballot Measure 2 are holding a news conference today in Anchorage at 10 a.m. AKT to discuss the implementation of the law, as well as kick off an ad campaign encouraging adults to “consume [marijuana] responsibly.” The ads will appear on the sides of Anchorage city buses for two weeks and read, “With great marijuana laws comes great responsibility.” A large replica of one of the ads will be featured at the event, which will be held in the office of Strategies 360 (508 W. 2nd Ave., Suite 100).
The ads are part of the “Consume Responsibly” public education campaign spearheaded by the Marijuana Policy Project, the largest backer of the Alaska ballot initiative. The campaign was launched in September and has featured highly publicized billboards in Colorado and Washington, as well as print ads, online ads, and materials in retail marijuana businesses.
“Most adults use marijuana for the same reasons most adults use alcohol,” Mason Tvert, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, commented in an announcement about the ad campaign. “We want them to keep in mind that it carries the same responsibilities.”
Alaska will be the third state in the nation where marijuana is officially legal for adults. Colorado and Washington enacted similar laws in 2012, and both states have established regulated marijuana markets for adults.
Voters in Oregon and the District of Columbia also adopted laws in November making marijuana legal for adults. The D.C. law is scheduled to take effect Thursday, and the law in Oregon is scheduled to take effect this summer.
“State laws allowing adults to use marijuana are becoming less and less of a novelty,” Tvert said in the ad-campaign announcement. “It won’t be long before it’s the rule instead of the exception nationwide. Colorado and Washington are proving that regulating marijuana works, and soon Alaska will, too.”