cannabisnews.com: High Hopes in Alaska for Sweeping Pot Law 





High Hopes in Alaska for Sweeping Pot Law 
Posted by FoM on September 27, 2000 at 11:15:04 PT
By Stuart Eskenazi, Seattle Times Staff Reporter
Source: Seattle Times
 The folks behind a statewide ballot initiative to decriminalize marijuana in Alaska will stare you down with their glassy eyes and sermonize on the numerous commercial uses for industrial hemp, the environmental benefits of hemp production and the medicinal benefits of the cannabis plant. And sure, the Nov. 7 measure is about all of those things. Mostly, though, it's about the freedom to get stoned. 
"In most places, you have to pass a pee test in order to work there," says Soren Wuerth, a former head of the Alaska Green Party who works at the Free Hemp in Alaska campaign office in Anchorage. "In our place, you have to fail the pee test to work here." Efforts to change laws, whatever they may be, tend to focus on incremental steps. But instead of adopting a deliberate strategy, backers of the Alaska marijuana initiative have declared anarchy. The initiative is so sweeping - it not only would legalize pot for personal use but grant amnesty to anyone with marijuana convictions - that even the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and High Times, the Sports Illustrated for potheads, were slow to support the measure. The Free Hemp in Alaska campaign office is plastered with orange stickers that organizers found while rummaging through inventories of secondhand office supplies. The stickers, probably leftovers from a bakery, read, "Baked with pride in Alaska." It's a fitting motto for a campaign where some volunteers and paid workers come to work high and where a few loiter near a back door to sneak tokes, even though campaign protocol prohibits such behavior. Some volunteers, including a 16-year-old boy, say they are at the nonprofit campaign working off court-imposed community-service sentences for marijuana-related convictions. "Yeah, I find that ironic," says Thomas Holohan, 34, who satisfied 200 hours of community service by designing the campaign's Web site: http://www.freehempinak.org/ "Sweet irony at that." The campaign has set up shop in a strip mall on one of Anchorage's seedier streets. A yellow mural painted on the south face of the building reads, "Vote Yes. Nov. 7, 2000." The message and date are separated by an image of a giant green cannabis leaf. The campaign office side door is always open, providing passage to an adjacent espresso bar with trippy decor that is the informal hangout for the potheads, libertarians and environmentalists behind the initiative. Coffee Shop Pax is a shrine to dope. A painted marijuana leaf frames the top of four plate-glass windows. Garlands of fake marijuana leaves hang on two pillars like wreaths and also ring the tip jar on the counter. A picture of Bob Marley taking a toke is taped near an espresso machine. On the other side of the coffee house is Exit Glass & Hemporium, which sells soap, string, satchels and shirts, all made of hemp. It also sells handmade pipes and glass jars to store stashes. Within these surroundings, initiative supporters feel invincible. What The Law Would Do:If the initiative passes, Alaska will be the only state in the country to legalize marijuana consumption, possession, distribution and cultivation for personal use, practiced in private. "Our law wouldn't protect you if you are caught smoking in a car, but it would protect you if you are driving it to a friend's house to smoke," explains Al Anders, chairman of Free Hemp in Alaska. The law would apply to anyone 18 and older, even though Alaskans aren't allowed to buy cigarettes until they are 19 or alcohol until 21. It would release any Alaskan currently behind bars for a marijuana-related crime and clear the criminal records of those with past convictions. And it would convene a panel to consider restitution to those who have been imprisoned. Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles opposes the measure. A former U.S. attorney for Alaska under President Bush, Wev Shea, is tirelessly campaigning against it. "If marijuana is legalized, it becomes socially acceptable, and once it becomes socially acceptable, a lot more people are going to try it," Shea says. "If this passes, what is going to be the perception of Alaska? That we all just sit around and smoke dope?" The section of the initiative that prohibits state or local law-enforcement agencies from working on marijuana cases would shackle all drug-enforcement efforts in a state that relies heavily on multiagency task forces, Shea says. "If this passes, Alaska is going to basically be the drug haven of North America," he says. Initiative supporter Mitch Mitchell, one year out of federal prison for trafficking in 1,100 pounds of marijuana, thinks the initiative will be good for tourism. "They are going to have to build another airport," he says. Pot At The Polls: Political consultants in Alaska say the measure has a good shot at passing, helped by a predicted high turnout for the presidential race and a high-profile property-tax-limit initiative. Opponents of the measure are concerned. "People in Alaska are free thinkers, and their opinion - which obviously I don't agree with - is that marijuana is a soft drug and therefore not a big deal," Shea says. When handicapping the election, there also are practical things to consider. Political pundits and people on both sides of the issue agree: Alaskans are herb-friendly. Two years ago, Alaskans voted overwhelmingly to legalize marijuana use for medical patients. Washington and Oregon are among six states that have passed similar laws recently. Marijuana for private, recreational use was once legal in Alaska. In 1975, the state Supreme Court extended the constitutional right to privacy to marijuana use. In 1983, however, the Legislature limited amounts protected under the law to 4 ounces or less. And in 1990, voters passed an initiative that made marijuana illegal again. Cheryl Lewis, a 45-year-old volunteer for this November's initiative, had moved to Alaska two weeks before the 1990 measure was passed. "I thought at the time that it was a vast conspiracy to make my life miserable," she deadpans. At the Free Hemp in Alaska phone bank, upstairs from the campaign office, Lewis places calls to potential supporters. She learned of the initiative when campaign workers went to Kinko's, where she worked, to make copies of literature. "The word `hemp' did catch my eye because I have, um, friends who may or may not be occasional smokers," Lewis says. "I'm not admitting to anything." Sean Smeeden places phone calls at another table, soliciting contributions of time and money. He is 16. When he and some buddies got busted for setting fire to a trash can, police found marijuana in his coat pocket. He is working off his community-service sentence by volunteering at the campaign. He has promised his mother not to smoke pot until he turns 18. "The arrest has been positive for me," he says. "If I hadn't been arrested, I probably wouldn't be volunteering here." Easy Path To Ballot: Anders, the guy in charge, is a political organizer for the Libertarian Party who moved to Alaska three years ago from Indiana. In an effort to register libertarian-leaning voters, he started the marijuana initiative in the summer of 1999, never really believing he could amass the 21,000 signatures needed to get it on the November 2000 ballot. Almost every day, he strapped a folding table to the back of his bicycle and rode to locations in Anchorage where he would solicit signatures. He gathered 13,000 by himself and realized he had something special going. By January, six months before the deadline, the campaign had gathered 41,000 signatures - double what was needed to get the initiative on the ballot. "I smoke marijuana very little," Anders says. "Just at night sometimes to help me relax." Another campaign officer is Sil DeChellis, a 62-year-old who sold his tattoo parlor and music emporium in Yreka, Calif., to help the Alaska cause by becoming campaign treasurer. DeChellis has smoked pot daily for 44 years. He says it helped him quit smoking cigarettes and swear off alcohol 22 years ago. He also credits marijuana for helping his health, particularly his stomach ulcers. His parents, who were born in Italy, have never touched the stuff, but they know their son is an enduring pothead. "They also know I'm a better man smoking pot than I ever was as an alcoholic," he says. Anders and DeChellis are assisted by Mitchell, who moved from Everett in May to help organize. To him, the campaign is "not about us smoking pot - it's about keeping the pigs from taking good people to prison." Mitchell met some of those people in federal prison, where he served four years for selling marijuana. He lambastes NORML for taking a measured approach to marijuana reform. "They've got a 20-year plan, and I've got buddies in prison for pot," he says. Keith Stroup, NORML founder and executive director, says the group now supports the Alaska initiative, figuring it could inspire a movement in other states. The group had musician Willie Nelson, an avowed pothead, tape radio commercials supporting the initiative. But Stroup still has misgivings. The law would conflict with federal law if the state began to regulate marijuana sales as it does alcohol, and federal law likely would prevail, he says. Choosing his words diplomatically, he also says the section calling for a panel to examine reparations for ex-cons is "language that is intemperate strategically." "I think somebody got a little carried away," Stroup says. "It's easy to find fault with a word here or an attitude there, but this law essentially says it is no longer a crime to possess, use, cultivate or sell marijuana. And that's a very important statement." Stuart Eskenazi's telephone message number is 206-464-2293.His e-mail address is seskenazi seattletimes.comSource: Seattle Times (WA)Author: Stuart EskenaziPublished: Monday, September 25, 2000 Copyright © 2000 The Seattle Times CompanyContact: opinion seatimes.comAddress: P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111Fax: (206) 382-6760Website: http://www.seattletimes.com/Free Hemp in AlaskaAl Anders, Chair2603 Spenard RoadAnchorage, Alaska 99503 (907) 278-HEMP E-mail: freehempinak gci.netVisit their web site: http://www.freehempinak.orgRelated Articles & Web Site:NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/Alaska Hemp Initiative 2000http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6045.shtmlCannabisNews NORML Archives:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/NORML.shtml CannabisNews Articles - Alaska:http://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=alaska
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Comment #13 posted by Jessemeister on January 14, 2001 at 01:29:49 PT:
Sad but True
Unfortunatley the law did not pass.Not enough of us cannabis friendly people showed up on election day (I did). One of the largest reasons the law did not pass is federal funding. If the law was passed Alaskas federal funding would have been yanked. The law would also have been overturned, because it is not in accordance with federal laws.I am glad to see so much input on such an important subject 
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Comment #12 posted by Mike Moriarty on October 27, 2000 at 09:22:57 PT:
Hell Fuck yeah
Im glad somebody is thinking about the pot heads , We are allways getting screwed and now its time to stand up for our rights and fight the evil(govt.,pigs). We must win this battle If your not doing it for yourself do it to help piss off the government. To all my fellow potheads we will rise above.
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Comment #11 posted by freedom fighter on September 28, 2000 at 14:05:23 PT
Kapt.
I love your Short term vs Long term article. Honestly think that you should try to submit it for print. Send the article to all main media and see if they would publish it.Go Alaska! It is time for them to tell the lower 48 states to stop this insanity for once and all!As for this Shea, will someone please mail him some cannabis? This would be a guerilla effort to discredit this fool and teach him a lesson. Send him a male plant or some hemp seeds! Oh, in past I would not even think of doing that but I do think now it is time to teach some fools a lesson or two. 
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Comment #10 posted by Kaptinemo on September 28, 2000 at 11:24:28 PT:
I certainly hope no one here is basing their 
future political action upon the opinions of an ol' freller like me. I stub my toes just like everyone else, and have been fooled more than once by a lying, clever pol.But since you ask, Congressman: I'm voting Lib, and not just because I am one. Don't get me wrong; I have a major disagreement with my party as to its' stance on environmental issues. Many Libs think that the entire matter of environmentalism is tree-hugger agitprop that's been co-opted by a greedy government. Many Libs view global warming as a hoax. I don't. Also, I firmly believe that the land is a (truly) sacred trust, and shouldn't be sold off to meet the purely temporal and temporary needs of a cash-strapped government. But nor should it be stolen from people as Klinton has done, and made into UN preserves. And there's a tendency Mainline Libs have towards turning a blind eye towards the reasons *why* environmental regulations and worker safety laws were made in the first place. Unbridled capitalism has had a historical tendency to run roughshod over people's rights, their dignity, their health, and their very lives. Hence the regulations.So, as much as I greatly admire Nader for his out-front stance against so much of what has happened in the last 30 years (corporate welfare, weakening of health and safety regulations, the de facto destruction of Workers' Comp by this Administration, the soft money, the buying of pols and the weakening of democracy, etc.) I have to side with the Libs. In many regards, they are more likely to be accepted by mainstream political forces than Greens may, simply because they are far less 'confrontational' in their actions. But when Libs finally *do* get a toe-hold, there'll be no stopping them, because their no-tax-but-Constitutionally-mandated-tax message would catch on like wildfire. Because that has more appeal to Joe Sixpack than environmental issues, most voters would 'lend them and ear' at least. But that's just my take on things. Vote your conscience, vote your mind, your heart, your gut feelings, whatever. But vote a 3rd party and ring the bells of these idiot pols. Let them know you're out there. And that you'll be silent no more.
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on September 28, 2000 at 09:06:14 PT
Questions
I think the Greens and Libertarian Parties are the future. They both have good and not so good things but they are young and no person or party will have all the answers. That's just impossible because there is no such thing as Utopia on this earth in my opinion.My questions:How do you feel about a $100,000 limit in income?I think that would create another whole illegal market. Do you see what I mean? Some people are born with a silver spoon in their mouth due to nothing that they did to earn it but isn't it a birthright if their parents did a great job and achieved financial success? I must be really old fashion.As far as gun control. I believe in the right to bear arms. We just had another murder in our small local town. I just think of how the Jewish people were murdered and they didn't have guns.As far as depending on a government for anything has anyone every tried to get help when they really needed it and it was easy? I sure haven't. These are a few questions I have.Peace, FoM!
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Comment #8 posted by mungojelly on September 28, 2000 at 07:18:55 PT:
the green party knows what's up
Ralph was being a bit cagey on the marijuana issue for a while there. not like he supported prohibition, he's a smart guy after all, but he was just being quiet about the issue. it's been much stated that this issue is untouchable, a killer. but it's gradually coming to the attention of all the "third parties" (which pretty soon will be first and second parties, if you catch my drift) that saying you want to end the war on marijuana is often a good way to get a standing ovation. the political reality of millions of cannabis users is finally sinking in. there are a lot of us, and we are willing to not just vote but to very actively support any candidate who is willing to speak loud and clear on this issue. as far as Ralph Nader vs Harry Browne vs whoever, i say it doesn't make much difference. not that there's not tremendous difference between the "third party" candidates -- in fact there is huge amounts of real difference between the various platforms. but that very difference is also a unifying feature; these are all parties which are willing to bravely stand up against the establishment and demand our rights. i am supporting Ralph Nader for president in this election. but i respect anyone who has the courage to vote for any of the real candidates -- that is to say, anyone except Al and George, those two sides of the "we won't even acknowledge the opposition" coin. i hope that after this election, they will never again be able to ignore the threat of the Green Party and the Libertarians. 
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Comment #7 posted by CongressmanSuet on September 27, 2000 at 20:49:16 PT:
Kap, I think alot would agree, 
and consider voting for a third party. Both my Wife and myself will be this year. But there is another question, the Libs. are, and always have been the true party of democracy and freedom, but they can sound alittle scary to your common average everyday schlub, with the wife and kids at home. No gun control, per se, complete cutoff of Gov.,[their best idea] repeal of all consensual crimes, kinda sounds abit extreme, doesnt it? What is your opinion of the Greens? It seems they have a humanitarian platform, and agree with us on many issues. Plus, having a leader like Ralph Nader seems like something that just makes alot of sense. Could we be better off in the long run with going Green? What do you think, Kap?
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Comment #6 posted by kaptinemo on September 27, 2000 at 20:06:51 PT:
Short term vs. Long term
'A slave is a man waiting for another man to free him. But one who frees himself was never a slave to begin with.' - John W. CampbellAre you waiting for someone else to free you?I keep saying this, largely for the benefit of those who are recent arrivals:Seventy million Americans have used cannabis. Responsibly. Respectfully. Maturely. 70 million...criminals.In the election of 1992, we got the kind of President we have because over half of the people eligible to vote in this country... didn't. We still have the laws that we do because half of the people didn't effin' *vote*.But of those who did, 20% voted for Ross Perot. Voted for someone they knew little about, but voted all the same. Because he brought up issues that Tweedledee and Tweedledoofus wouldn't touch. And because of that, the issues *were* addressed. (So, who wasted whose vote?)A huge political vacuum exists because of that failure to exercise our soverign franchise as citizens. Pols know, and *plan* on that apathy; it makes it possible to have their friends in the special interest groups mobilize their small but loud constituencies and have them, through their mouthpieces, simulate a political quorum on behalf of the people. The only thing that can balance that out is the independants. Independants are a hot commodity, right now. Both of the major parties know that it is those who have disdain for party allegiences because of their narrowminded ideologies who are the true 'swing voter' bloc. Note how there are so many undecided voters; watch how the Shrub and Snore court us so ardently. That is the vacuum that we can fill. If we were to fill it, we would carry the day. Even if only a *quarter* of that 70 million registered to vote 3rd party, the shock waves would knock the pols off of their smug perches. It would be sending a message loud and clear to people who have felt safe in ignoring the reform movement: Ignore us at your political peril. Because we've been incredibly patient. Patient with the living in fear that the door may come crashing in any second. Patient with the brutality of drug raids. Patient even with the police-sanctioned murders (Too patient by far!!!) It would be a message no pol but the most braindead reactionary could ever ignore. A message that we will be free, again. And if it means the end of your political career to accomplish that end, then so be it.We've been patient long enough.It's long past time to take the velvet gloves off, and show them what their DrugWar has forged.Yes, we could free ourselves.But only if we register and vote third party. Only then will the message get through; only then will the pols quit vomiting up anti pap, and start demanding a rational policy towards cannabis.Given our hidden strength, given what enormous potential we have to tip the scales in ways that no power or special interest group or pols could dare withstand for long without suffering a costly political defeat, given all these things and more, what will you decide? Will you just go on hiding in your closets? Haven't you had enough of that? I'm sure we all have. It's just a simple matter of deciding when you no longer wish to be a slave to fear. So I ask you again: *When* do you want...to be free?
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Comment #5 posted by Frank on September 27, 2000 at 17:56:40 PT
Vote Yes for Marijuana Keep our Kids out of Prison
Vote yes on this issue and you will be giving Washington the finger, kicking the “Drug Czar” in the *ss and Slapping DEA in the face. They are so goofy in Washington it’s hard to believe. It’s time to send them a message for the 2,000,000 people in the American gulag and the “Children” 
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Comment #4 posted by MikeEEEEE on September 27, 2000 at 15:57:05 PT
Gr8 Thing
If you believe in God you better be wishing that prohibition gets another nail in the butt. 
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Comment #3 posted by max on September 27, 2000 at 12:45:00 PT:
GO ALASKA
IF nothing else this is major fuck you to that nazi prick adolf macaffery. It's things like this that lead me to believe that the next war this country is in will be a civil one. All we need is just ONE state to legalize and then the governments house of cards will come tumbling down. What will the amerikan government do? Send peace keeping troops to Anchorage and Gnome? Spend billions in the war on Alaska? What probably will happen is nothing. THe Alaskan government will just not enact the law against the peoples wishes, despite the vote, showing us all how little the people really mean when it comes to government. Our forefathers are getting ready to turn over in their graves, I can hear them now.
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Comment #2 posted by Frank S. World on September 27, 2000 at 12:17:31 PT
Go Alaska!
Alcohol prohibition began to fall apart when the states stopped enforcing it. Let's hope Alaskans send a strong message that cannabis prohibition is a failed ideology too.
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Comment #1 posted by Kanabys on September 27, 2000 at 11:47:09 PT
I don't care....
if federal law overrides it, it is a statement that needs to be made. I sincerely hope it passes. In the rhetoric of the feds, "it will send a message" to the powers that be. The will of Americans can't be overridden forever.
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