Valdez Town Hall Meeting with Marijuana Board Director

By Sue Bergstrom for Valdez City News –

Friday evening a people gathered in the Valdez Civic Center auditorium for a Town Hall Meeting with State of Alaska Marijuana Control Board Director, Cynthia Franklin. She began the meeting with a presentation that not only clarified the statute itself but showed some of the research the board had done, traveling to both Colorado and Washington, visiting retail stores and discussing what was working and what wasn’t with state officials.
Franklin made several points intended to clear up misunderstandings she’s encountered about what is in the new law and how it will work.

• The State of Alaska does not differentiate between medical and recreational marijuana use. There were no dispensaries for medical marijuana before recreational use was legalized and there won’t be any now. Whatever their reason, people will purchase from the same retail establishments. It’s up to the retailer if they choose to sell at a lower price to people with a medical marijuana card.

• It is not illegal to transport up to an ounce of marijuana, which is the legal amount an individual is allowed to posses. However, Federal regulations and airline regulations may prevent you from taking it with you onto an airplane. Local option is not the same for marijuana as it is for alcohol.

• Municipalities cannot vote to make marijuana illegal within their limits. Local option only allows municipalities to decide which, if any, of the four licensed businesses they will allow. This is done either by enactment of an ordinance or through voter initiative. So whether or not you can legally buy or sell marijuana where you live you can still legally use it, have up to six plants with three in flower and posses one ounce or less.
Businesses that will be licensed under the new law are growing, processing, testing and retail operations. It is possible to hold multiple licenses, but testing must be done by a licensee unconnected with the grower, processor or retailer of the product being tested.

Following the presentation, Franklin took questions from the attendees. In answer to a question about drug testing for employment and how it was effected by the law she stated that a private employer still has the right to test and to apply any rules they have against marijuana use. When asked about impaired driving and how it would be tested, she replied that this has not changed. People have been charged with driving under the influence and still can be. A field sobriety test can still indicate impairment and while there is no instant test, like a breathalyzer, a blood test can be done in a matter of days. She emphasized that while possession and use of marijuana are now legal for persons over twenty-one, there are still criminal consequences for breaking the law. Under-age persons and those in possession of more than the legal limit or caught consuming in public are still subject to prosecution. Private clubs are not presently legal but this is something the board is investigating.