Alaska joined Oregon, Washington D.C., Washington State, and Colorado in voting to end marijuana prohibition. The successful marijuana legalization initiative in Alaska won 53.23% to 46.77% during the 2014 Election, which was a solid margin. Tomorrow the initiative takes effect. Per the Alaska Dispatch News:
Ballot Measure 2 will become effective on Tuesday, and many Alaskans are wondering what will change on that date. The simple answer is: Everything, and not much at all.
Beginning that day, it will be lawful for someone 21 years of age or over to possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana. Those with a green thumb may legally grow up to six marijuana plants (only three of them can be mature at any time) in their homes. Generous Alaskans may gift, without payment, up to 1 ounce of marijuana to someone age 21 or over and give them up to six immature marijuana plants. Private consumption will be completely legal for those 21 and over. So, for adults, personal cultivation, possession, and consumption will be lawful within certain limits, in private, and as long as no money changes hands. For those who have been consuming for years, this may not seem significant, but from a legal perspective it represents a huge shift.
I don’t see too much personally changing tomorrow. People will not be able to buy marijuana in stores, yet. People that have been consuming marijuana for years will continue to do so. Marijuana opponents will try as hard as they can to find evidence that the beginning of the zombie apocalypse is upon us, to no avail. There will no be mayhem on public roadways, teen marijuana consumption will not spike, and per a Harvard study, there will not be a huge spike in new people consuming marijuana. What is a guarantee is that cops will finally be freed up to go after real criminals instead of wasting time busting people for a plant that is safer than alcohol.
