Advocates Shift Tactics to Get Pot Initiative Passed in Alaska September 30, 2004
News Summary
The group Yes on 2, which supports legalizing and regulating marijuana in Alaska, is trying a new strategy to convince voters to approve the ballot initiative in the Nov. 2 election, the Anchorage Daily News reported Sept. 23.The strategy is different from that used in 2000, when a similar ballot initiative failed. This year, the group has recruited a group of professionals, including a biomedical professor, a former high-ranking state corrections officer, and a prominent Republican Party official, to promote their message.
"The legalizers have done a good job this time," said former U.S. Attorney Wev Shea, who was a key spokesman against legalization in 2000. "Have you seen the commercials? They're really professional."
Shea is also worried that there hasn't been any organized campaign against the initiative. "I'm very concerned," he said. Shea has urged federal and state prosecutors and Alaska politicians to take a strong stand against the issue.
Although state law prevents office-holders from using their positions to tell people how to vote, U.S. Attorney for Alaska Tim Burgess, state Attorney General Greg Renkes, and Gov. Frank Murkowski have said in interviews that they are against the initiative.
Currently, state law allows residents to possess a small amount of marijuana in their homes for personal use.
Yes on 2 spokesman Bill Parker, a former legislator and deputy commissioner of corrections in Alaska, said legalizing all amounts of marijuana would protect individual privacy rights, stop the government from wasting taxpayer dollars to fight marijuana, and allow for regulation to make it difficult for children to obtain marijuana but easier for adults to get it legally.
Jennifer de Vallance, a spokeswoman for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, countered that regulating marijuana would not prevent children from accessing the drug. She noted that alcohol is regulated, but minors still get it. "It doesn't make sense that making this legal would hamper access," she said. "If anything, it sends a mixed message to kids that it's OK."
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