http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/walker-considering--day-delay-for-commercial-pot/article_68df71e6-875b-11e4-a609-cf8099cc05b8.html
Alaska governor considering 90-day delay for commercial pot
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FAIRBANKS — Gov. Bill Walker is looking into delaying parts of the ballot initiative legalizing marijuana possession and sales.
Walker, in comments to an invite-only meeting hosted by the Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce earlier this week, said his administration is exploring delaying parts of the bill that allow for the commercial sale of marijuana by 90 days.
The comments were in response to a question about how Walker’s approaching regulations that, in the audience member’s opinion, will be “quite a challenge for the administration.”
“Well, they told me could get a stay of implementation for that, and I asked if we could do it for four years,” Walker said, joking about his well-documented opposition to Ballot Measure 2. “I can put it off 90 days, but not four years. We’ll probably go the 90-day route. So that’s, you know, where we are.”
Walker said his administration is reaching out to Colorado and Washington about their regulatory systems. Despite his apparent reluctance to oversee the implementation of marijuana sales, Walker said his administration “will follow the will of the voters on all the issues around the ballot.”
At least one group involved in the ballot measure contended a delay in the regulatory timeline, which was written into Ballot Measure 2, would constitute a change to the spirit of the bill and would be challenged.
“I would dispute that,” said Bruce Schulte, spokesman for the Alaska-based Coalition for Responsible Cannabis Legislation. “If you read the ballot measure, it’s very specific in terms of the timeline. ... Some things were more loose, but the schedule was pretty well-defined. It’s our position that the ballot initiative was pretty clear.”
Ballot Measure 2 decriminalizes marijuana possession, use and non-monetary transfer when the law goes into effect on Feb. 24, 2015.
Walker’s spokeswoman Grace Jang said a proposed regulatory extension would not affect that date, but said the extension is “to make sure the regulatory infrastructure is properly in place.”
The state has nine months after the law’s effective date to produce regulations for commercial sales, growers and testing, then three months to begin accepting applications and then three months after that to begin issuing permits.
Commercial growers could begin to produce marijuana for sale in May 2016 under the timeline in Ballot Measure 2.
But just what mechanism Walker can use to delay the regulations is unclear.
Cynthia Franklin, the director of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, said Ballot Measure 2 has hard deadlines for the regulatory process.
The regulations are currently under the purview of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board unless the Legislature, which will gavel in January, creates a separate regulatory board.
“Unless and until a separate marijuana bill is created, we’re working on it and we’re going to do something,” Franklin said. “If some external force slows us down like the Legislature, then we’ll take that as it comes. All we have right now comes from the ballot measure.”
She did say producing regulations within nine months of the effective date is a tight timeline, but doable if the regulations stay with the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board or its staff.
She said if the Legislature wants to make major changes to regulations, the timing with the legislative session could make meeting the November 2015 deadline more difficult.
“The timelines are tight, and whether or not we can really accomplish what the citizens are demanding of us well is an open question, so that might explain why there’s some exploring going on,” she said.
Any delay, she said, likely would require a change in law by the Legislature, but that runs the risk of violating the intention of the initiative. Voter initiatives cannot be dramatically changed by the Alaska Legislature for two years, but the Legislature can make minor amendments and changes.
Franklin said she believes something like what Walker is proposing wouldn’t be a violation of the intention but added “whether or not that violates the intention of the statute is going to be up to people other than me to determine.”
Timeline for marijuana legalization
Legalization in Alaska as required by Ballot Measure 2
Feb. 24, 2015 — Possession, use and non-sale transfer of marijuana becomes legal.
End of November 2015 — Regulations for businesses must be in place.
End of February 2016 — State must begin accepting permit applications.
End of May 2016 — State must begin issuing permits.
Walker’s potential delay would not affect the decriminalization of possession, use and non-sale transfer of marijuana.
Contact staff writer Matt Buxton at 459-7544. Follow him on Twitter: @FDNMpolitics.
