POT INITIATIVE BACKERS KICK OFF CAMPAIGN

A group formed in support of a ballot initiative that would legalize
all amounts of marijuana in Alaska has kicked off its campaign.

Yes on 2, named after Ballot Measure No. 2, opened its campaign
headquarters in Anchorage last week and started hitting the airwaves
with its message.

"We have ads on TV, we have ads on radio and we have campaigners doing
door-to-door in selected areas," said Timothy Hinterberger, one of the
organizers of the initiative.

Ballot Measure No. 2 would remove all criminal and civil penalties for
people 21 or older who "grow, use, sell or give away marijuana or hemp
products." It would allow the state or local governments to regulate
marijuana like alcohol or tobacco and establish laws that limit
marijuana use in public.

Hinterberger said the initiative is starting to generate more media
interest from Alaska as well as national and international outlets.
Fox News broadcast a story on the initiative last month and a reporter
from La Presse, a French-language newspaper based in Montreal, is in
Anchorage reporting on a story about the marijuana situation in
Alaska, he said.