Marijuana

Sponsors of a voter initiative to ban commercial marijuana businesses in the City of Fairbanks submitted more than 500 signatures Friday in an effort to get the measure on the fall 2017 ballot.

Petition sponsor Vivian Stiver, with the group “Drug Free Fairbanks,” said petitioners have gathered well above the 519 required, but the signatures must be of registered voters who live in the city, and are subject to review.

“Say they look at the signatures, there are several that bring us under 519 because theyr’re thrown out for whatever reason,” Stiver said. “We would then be given an additional two weeks to collect the difference.”

Petition sponsors have until September 15 to get the required number of valid signatures, Stiver said. Stiver gathered signatures at several locations this summer including outside the library and at the Tanana Valley State Fair.

“It was interesting,” Stiver said. “A lot of people were just unsure about what all had been legalizded under this law. I think one of the biggest things they’re surprised by are the edibles that can be out there. They are very much likened to national brand foods. Very hard to distinguish for young children … the difference.”

Many people Stiver talked to also did not realize that under the statewide ballot proposition passed in 2014 legalizing recreational and commercial marijuana, local governments have the option of banning retail sale of the drug by ordinance or voter initiative, she said.

Drug Free Fairbanks also has a petition in the works to ban retail sale of marijuana in the North Star Borough, outside of the cities of Fairbanks and North Pole.

ANCHORAGE — An Anchorage man opening a retail marijuana business has been appointed to the state Marijuana Control Board.

Gov. Bill Walker announced Wednesday that Nicholas Miller will serve on the board. He replaces Bruce Schulte, whom Walker removed from the board July 29.

Miller is chairman of the Anchorage Cannabis Business Association. The association is made up of people filing for state and local licensing of pot businesses.

Miller’s appointment runs through February 2018.

The Marijuana Control Board has the job of regulating Alaska’s marijuana industry.

Schulte was appointed to the board in July 2015 as one of two industry representatives and served as board chairman until June.

A proposal to establish a boroughwide retail marijuana tax was indefinitely postponed Monday following lengthy discussion and several attempts to amend the ordinance.

The proposed ordinance called for a 5 percent excise tax on all retail marijuana sales.

During discussion, Assembly Member Glen Thompson questioned the reason for the cannabis tax.

“Are we trying to dissuade people from using a product we don’t like, kind of like we did with tobacco?” he said. “We probably should make it a very high tax. If we want to raise a whole lot of money and put it in the general fund or someother fund, we should make it a high tax. So, we need to ask ourselves: ‘What’s the purpose behind any of this taxation at this point in time?’”

Thompson then proposed a 10 percent marijuana excise tax as an amendment.

Assembly Member John Harrington, participating via telephone, spoke against the amendment, which he said would complicate what should be a simple motion.

“We can adjust it later, we can talk about it later, but the … motions on the table are just meant to kill the whole thing,” he said.

Thompson’s amendment failed in a 3-3 tie vote, with Thompson and Assembly members Stephen Bradford and Mike Painter voting in favor.

Assembly Member Bill Rotecki was absent, as was Mayor David Landis. Otherwise, Landis would have been able to break the tie.

Assembly Member Bradford then offered an amendment that would have included alcohol sales in the excise tax. He said he doesn’t believe in singling out a product for taxation.

“I think we’re just trying to impose some people’s moral judgments and some people’s opposition to a product, and make it as difficult as possible to sell that product in spite of the affirmative vote of the people to do so,” he said.

Because the borough has linked alcoholic beverage retail licenses with marijuana licenses in its regulatory rules, Bradford argued, the borough should tax them equally.

There was discussion about whether that was legal. Borough Attorney Scott Brandt-Erichsen said that state law prohibits local alcohol taxes unless other items are similarly taxed – a general sales tax, for example.

He said he’d have to do some research to determine whether linking alcohol and marijuana together was enough to make it legal.

“But I could tell the Assembly, without researching it further, that if it is not in violation of that section, it is certainly pushing the envelope,” he said.

Bradford’s amendment failed in a 3-3 tie vote, with Bradford, Thompson and Assembly Member Felix Wong voting yes.

Then Thompson proposed adding an additional tax for concentrated marijuana products, based on the level of THC – the active ingredient in pot. That also failed, this time in a 2-4 vote with Thompson and Assembly Member Mike Painter voting yes.

A fourth amendment, also proposed by Thompson, called for putting the issue in front of voters this October. That amendment passed 4-2, with Harrington and Assembly Member Alan Bailey voting no.

And then, finally, Harrington proposed indefinitely postponing the issue. He cited the complex debate, and all the attempts to amend the ordinance.

“I think it’s pretty obvious we’re not going to get anywhere,” he said. “We’re going to keep fighting about this. The thought of having something simple moving forward is dying the death of a thousand cuts.”

The motion to indefinitely postpone passed 4-2, with Painter and Wong voting no. The issue can still be brought back at a later time.

The next city-borough cooperative relations committee meeting, set for Sept. 9.

FAIRBANKS — Rules for cannabis cafes outside Fairbanks will be delayed for three months.

Fairbanks North Star Borough on Thursday put the matter on hold.

The state Marijuana Control Board says cannabis cafes will be allowed as attachments to retail pot stores.

But borough assembly members say they want state regulations in place before they decide what to do locally.

Assemblyman Matt Cooper proposed the delay. He says he feels as if local officials are currently operating in a vacuum.

The borough is considering zoning rules for cannabis cafes that would require notification to neighbors, a public hearing and a planning commission vote.

The delay on adopting rules applies only outside of Fairbanks and North Pole. Those cities have their own marijuana regulatory powers.

ANCHORAGE — A home invasion robbery left an Anchorage man injured early Wednesday.

A man just before 3 a.m. sought treatment at a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, Anchorage police said.

He told medical personnel he had been robbed at his home on east 12th Avenue.

Hospital staff called police, who went to the home a few blocks south of Debarr Road and east of Boniface Parkway.

Police found a large marijuana grow inside the home.

Police say they it was apparent intruders had forced their way in.

Electronics and other items were taken.

Police are seeking tips on the incident from the public.

Skagway Borough Assembly will consider Thursday an application for the town’s first retail marijuana store, called the Remedy Shoppe.

Owner Tara Bass applied for a conditional use permit to set up shop in the Business General zone at 371 Third Avenue. Her permit was approved by the planning commission in April.

The local government has the right to lodge a protest against the application if it sees fit.

The question of how to go about restarting tidelands lease discussions with White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad is also on the agenda. At the last meeting, the assembly agreed to try to re-engage with White Pass in an effort to clean up and expand the town’s port.

The assembly will hear an update on the planned ferry dock refurbishment. An Alaska Department of Transportation spokesman said in the spring that the dock project may happen either this winter or next year. Ferry service is likely to be impacted.

The assembly will also discuss how to fund a proposed local senior center and housing facility. The total project cost is estimated at about $7 million.

A resolution to proclaim Skagway’s official motto ‘Gateway to the Klondike’ is also on the table. The idea to make the tagline official came up during discussions about the borough’s new website. The majority of assembly members favored using ‘Gateway to the Klondike’ instead of ‘Garden City of Alaska.’

The meeting is scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m in assembly chambers.