MARIJUANA BACKERS EXPECT LEGALIZATION INITIATIVE TO MAKE BALLOT

JUNEAU (AP)- Backers of an initiative to legalize marijuana say they have
enough signatures to put the measure on the November ballot.

"We're working on our insurance signatures right now," said Al Anders,
ballot coordinator for the 99HEMP Committee.

Anders said 26,000 signatures have been gathered, more than the minimum
22,716 required to put the question on the ballot. Election officials
encourage backers of initiatives to gather 1,500 to 2,000 extra signatures
because some are usually disqualified because they're not from registered
voters.

Sponsors of initiatives have until Jan. 10 to turn in their petitions if
they hope to place a measure on the November ballot.

The marijuana measure would prevent the state from prosecuting people for
growing, distributing, possessing or consuming marijuana or other hemp
products.

It calls for marijuana to be regulated similarly to alcoholic beverages and
would allow the Legislature to prohibit people from driving or operating
heavy equipment under the influence and from using marijuana in public
places.

The measure also calls for clearing the criminal records of people
prosecuted for marijuana crimes in the past - and for the state to consider
making restitution to people convicted of past marijuana crimes.

In the 1970s, Alaska's Supreme Court ruled that the state constitution's
privacy provisions protected people from prosecution for having small
amounts of marijuana in their homes.

A 1990 citizens' initiative recriminalized marijuana possession. Last year
voters approved a ballot measure that allowed people to grow and use
marijuana for limited medical purposes.

Anders said the current measure would end the hypocrisy of treating
marijuana differently from alcohol.

"I think it's absolutely a shame that we're throwing men and women in prison
and stealing their children away from them over a plant ... the use of
which is at worst foolish, but is far less harmful than almost
any other intoxicant that God has put on this earth," Anders said.

Michael Rowcroft, a Juneau chemical dependency counselor, said legalizing
pot is a bad idea. Marijuana is addictive and impairs thinking, memory and
reaction time, Rowcroft said.

Before 1990, the rate of adolescent marijuana use in Alaska was double the
national average, Rowcroft said.