cannabisnews.com: Alaskans Push Pot On Ballot Alaskans Push Pot On Ballot Posted by FoM on October 03, 2000 at 07:15:09 PT By Stuart Eskenazi, The Seattle Times Source: Salt Lake Tribune 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 read, "Baked with pride in Alaska." Coming to Work High: 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. 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. 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. 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 mari- juana-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. Opposing Forces: 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 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. 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. When handicapping the election, there are also 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. 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, limited amounts were protected. And in 1990, voters passed an initiative that made marijuana illegal again. Source: Salt Lake Tribune (UT)Copyright: 2000 The Salt Lake TribunePublished: Tuesday, October 3, 2000 Author: Stuart Eskenazi, The Seattle TimesContact: letters sltrib.comAddress: 143 S Main, Salt Lake City UT 84111Fax: (801)257-8950Website: http://www.sltrib.com/Forum: http://www.sltrib.com/tribtalk/Related Articles & Web Sites:NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/Free Hemp in AlaskaAl Anders, Chair2603 Spenard RoadAnchorage, Alaska 99503 (907) 278-HEMP E-mail: freehempinak gci.netVisit their web site: http://www.freehempinak.orgHemp 2000R.L. Marcy, ChairP.O. Box 90055Anchorage, AK 99509907-376-2232 (p)Fax: 907-376-0530 (f)E-mail: marcy hemp2000.orgVisit their web site: http://www.hemp2000.org High Hopes in Alaska for Sweeping Pot Law http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7173.shtml Alaska Hemp Initiative 2000 http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread6045.shtmlCannabisNews Articles - Alaska:http://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=alaska Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #1 posted by Occassional Pot User on October 03, 2000 at 13:28:55 PT Wheeee!!! If this passes, life will rule. Prices for pot will drop dramatically here in AK if this measure passes. We'll have coffee shops in Anchorage and Fairbanks and Juneau, and tourism will skyrocket.I think the fact that pot is a peaceful drug will definitely make it safe and fun. This could even be a peaceful spring break vacation for college kids. ;)Go Alaska! 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