CITY COUNCIL JUST SAYS NO TO LEGALIZING POT

The Fairbanks City Council voted Monday night on a slightly
watered-down resolution condemning the legalization of marijuana but
stopped short of telling people how to vote on Proposition 2.

Some council members expressed concern about whether or not it was the
council's job to tell voters how to vote.

But Mayor Steve Thompson and Councilman Jeff Johnson argued that
marijuana use affects the health and safety of Fairbanks citizens and
could affect the city budget.

"We can regulate the alcohol content of alcoholic beverages, but you
can't regulate how much THC is in marijuana," Thompson argued.

The marijuana resolution was part of a handful of business items
discussed at Monday's regular city council meeting. The council
approved revisions of the budget and new members to four different
city boards. They also OK'd the sale of about 8 1/2 acres of land just
off Lathrop Street and the Mitchell Expressway.

Six people asked the council not to approve the marijuana resolution,
half of whom said they use the plant for medicinal purposes.

Peter Gordon, who said he couldn't sit down because of his severe
injuries, dumped out bottles of powerful prescription pain relievers
onto a table to show the council the pain he dealt with on a daily
basis. He has a medical marijuana card, but no one can legally provide
him the marijuana, he said.

"I'm a patient trying to ease my pain," he said.

One mother of five children, Joanna Pippenger, said she would rather
see marijuana out of the hands of criminals. She didn't believe that
if marijuana were legal that more children would have access to it,
she said.

"We can trust parents to be responsible," Pippenger said.

One man testified for the resolution.

"You people have an obligation to represent everybody, not these few
people that have testified," said Nelson Miller. "I'm perfectly
satisfied with the current marijuana laws."

Councilman Scott Kawasaki was the lone no vote on the resolution. He
argued that claims about marijuana being more powerful today than 30
years ago were not proven.

"For the record, I'm against Proposition 2," Kawasaki said. "I never
smoked pot before. I just don't approve resolutions unless they meet
the facts."

The council voted to set the price tag on the Lathrop Street land at
$430,000 and approved the sale of the land on Monday. The Tanana
Valley Farmers Market had wanted to purchase the land earlier this
year for $400,000 but the Fairbanks North Star Borough expressed
interest in the land because of borough plans to develop a park off
South Davis, said Pat Smith, the city's project manager. The city and
the borough signed an agreement to that end, Smith said.

The agreement expired in August with the borough offering $370,000 on
the land, less than the market value, Smith said. The offer was
rejected, Smith said. In the meantime the Farmers Market found land on
College Road and has started building.