Work still to be done on marijuana regulations

  • Saturday, July 4, 2015 4:18pm
  • Opinion

Marijuana was again in the news this week, as the state Marijuana Control Board and area municipalities continue to develop regulations for the recently legalized drug.

Earlier this week, Soldotna Police Chief Peter Mlynarik was appointed to the Marijuana Control Board by Gov. Bill Walker. Mlynarik, a longtime state trooper, will represent public safety concerns on the body developing marijuana regulations.

The board met Thursday in Fairbanks, and, according to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, signed off on four statutory changes it would like to see the Legislature take up in the next session. Those items include allowing cannabis clubs, updating criminal law, clarifying the difference between a personal grow and an illegal operation, and giving villages the ability to opt out of commercial marijuana sales.

During their meeting Wednesday, members of the Kenai City Council were given questionnaires, the answers from which are intended to give the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission guidance in developing rules to regulate marijuana businesses within city limits.

While council members’ views on the issue vary, they all started with the assumption that marijuana sales should be legal in the city.

While much work has been done in crafting regulations for the marijuana industry, there is still much to do. Colorado and Washington may provide a template, but those states are still learning what works and doesn’t work.

Moving forward, state and local regulators will be best served by constructive public comment from people on all sides of the issue. It’s important that those drafting the rules have a good sense of where the public feels industry should be restricted — for example, near schools — as well as how to fulfill the intent of Alaska voters who made marijuana legal last fall.

Draft state regulations have been posted for public comment; visit For more information on the proposed regulations and to submit comment, go to commerce.state.ak.us/dnn/abc. The comment period is July 7-Aug. 8.

City councils and commissions, as well as the borough assembly, also are likely to take up marijuana issues in the coming months. There will be plenty of opportunity for the public to be involved; it is now up to the public to ensure that regulations are crafted that we all can live with.

More in Opinion

No to 67%

Recently, the Alaska State Officers Compensation Commission voted to raise the pay… Continue reading

This image available under the Creative Commons license shows the outline of the state of Alaska filled with the pattern of the state flag.
Opinion: Old models of development are not sustainable for Alaska

Sustainability means investing in keeping Alaska as healthy as possible.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy unveils proposals to offer public school teachers annual retention bonuses and enact policies restricting discussion of sex and gender in education during a news conference in Anchorage. (Screenshot)
Opinion: As a father and a grandfather, I believe the governor’s proposed laws are anti-family

Now, the discrimination sword is pointing to our gay and transgender friends and families.

Kenai Peninsula Education Association President Nathan Erfurth works in his office on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Voices of the Peninsula: Now is the time to invest in Kenai Peninsula students

Parents, educators and community members addressed the potential budget cuts with a clear message.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy holds a press conference at the Capitol on Tuesday, April 9, 2019. (Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: An accurate portrayal of parental rights isn’t controversial

Affirming and defining parental rights is a matter of respect for the relationship between parent and child

t
Opinion: When the state values bigotry over the lives of queer kids

It has been a long, difficult week for queer and trans Alaskans like me.

Unsplash / Louis Velazquez
Opinion: Fish, family and freedom… from Big Oil

“Ultimate investment in the status quo” is not what I voted for.

Dr. Sarah Spencer. (Photo by Maureen Todd and courtesy of Dr. Sarah Spencer)
Voices of the Peninsula: Let’s bring opioid addiction treatment to the Alaskans who need it most

This incredibly effective and safe medication has the potential to dramatically increase access to treatment

An orphaned moose calf reared by the author is seen in 1970. (Stephen F. Stringham/courtesy photo)
Voices of the Peninsula: Maximizing moose productivity on the Kenai Peninsula

Maximum isn’t necessarily optimum, as cattle ranchers learned long ago.

(Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
Opinion: The time has come to stop Eastman’s willful and wanton damage

God in the Bible makes it clear that we are to care for the vulnerable among us.

Caribou graze on the greening tundra of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska in June, 2001. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Opinion: AIDEA’s $20 million-and-growing investment looks like a bad bet

Not producing in ANWR could probably generate a lot of money for Alaska.

A fisher holds a reel on the Kenai River near Soldotna on June 30, 2021. (Photo by Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Voices of the Peninsula: King salmon closures long overdue

Returns have progressively gone downhill since the early run was closed in June 2012