The Haines Borough Assembly in August passed a resolution opposing Ballot Measure 2. On Tuesday, residents will have the opportunity to decide for themselves whether marijuana should be legalized and commercialized in Alaska.
Port Chilkoot Company president Lee Heinmiller, who spoke against the borough weighing in on the issue, said he will be voting “yes” on Tuesday.
Heinmiller doesn’t buy the argument that the measure will make marijuana more readily available to children. Instead, it will hopefully make parents more responsible for educating their children.
“Parents are going to have to talk to their kids about it instead of just pretending it doesn’t happen,” Heinmiller said.
Claims that deaths or emergency room visits in Washington and Colorado have risen after legalization are also unsubstantiated, Heinmiller said.
Sockeye Cycle owner Thom Ely said he will be voting in favor of the measure for several reasons, including that marijuana commercialization will bring additional tax revenue to the state.
“I kind of view this as you would the days of prohibition, and I think it is time for the prohibition of marijuana to pass,” Ely said.
Police chief Bill Musser said he doesn’t support the ballot measure and stands with the Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police on the matter. The AACP opposes the measure because of increased costs to law enforcement and the inability to reliably test and prove a motorist has been driving under the influence of marijuana.
They also say a black market will continue to function even if the drug is legalized.
Resident Bill Kurz, who sits on the coordinating committee of the “Big Marijuana. Big Mistake: Vote No on 2” campaign, said the measure doesn’t just include “regular” marijuana, but would also legalize strong derivatives with high concentrations of THC.
These derivatives are used in candy and other food products, which are more attractive to children, Kurz said.
The measure “is really very little to do with ‘recreational use of marijuana,’” Kurz said. “It’s really to create the commercialization and industrialization of marijuana. Looking at other states that have legalized marijuana, it has not solved any problems, but created new and more problems. We have enough problems in this world without adding more.”