House panel bill rewrite will move marijuana to regulated substances list

By Matt Buxton
JUNEAU — The House Judiciary Committee plans to move marijuana from the state’s list of controlled substances to regulated substances, its chairwoman announced Friday.
The move to rewrite Senate Bill 30, which chiefly deals with updating the state’s existing criminal code, is a departure from the approach taken by the Senate but one state officials say will improve regulation and enforcement.

Cynthia Franklin, the director of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, which is charged with forming regulations for marijuana, testified in support of moving marijuana into a regulated substance, matching the will of the voters who passed Ballot Measure 2 last fall. She said it ultimately will help consolidate existing crimes and penalties for marijuana misconduct, allowing the stronger and clearer standards for regulators and law enforcement.

“It was their intention and desire that marijuana be a legal substance for individuals 21 and older,” she said. “That makes it in the same category as alcohol: a legal, but dangerous and regulated substance. Having those rules in one place makes it easier, we believe for law enforcement to understand them.”

Franklin said leaving marijuana in a controlled status will confuse the issue for law enforcement officers, who have to bounce between two sections of law to determine what is and isn’t legal conduct.

As the bill has moved through the Legislature, the debate over treating marijuana like a controlled substance or a regulated substance has featured prominently in public testimony.

In its review of Senate Bill 30, the Senate Judiciary Committee decided to move marijuana into the regulated substances based on that testimony, but that action was undone in the Senate Finance Committee.

Senate Finance Co-chair Sen. Anna MacKinnon, R-Eagle River, defended the decision to keep marijuana among controlled substances on the Senate floor, pointing to federal law.

At the end of the Friday hearing, committee chairwoman Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, R-Anchorage, who has been one of the most vocal supporters of defending the initiative and voter intent, said based on public response and Franklin’s testimony that the committee will adopt an updated version of Senate Bill 30 that will move marijuana into the regulated substances list.

On hearing the news of the planned change, Senate Majority Leader John Coghill, R-North Pole, said the bill likely will be a nonstarter in the Senate.

“We just couldn’t get enough support to go that way,” he said.

With less than 10 days left in the session, it makes the passage of Senate Bill 30 unclear if the two bodies can’t agree on how to treat marijuana.

The bill still needs to exit from the House Judiciary Committee, clear the busy House Finance Committee and pass the House floor.

In addition to addressing the status of marijuana, the bill lessens many crimes for possessing marijuana in greater than the one ounce allowed under Ballot Measure 2. It also clarifies what constitutes usable marijuana, excluding stalks from the weight limits, and creates some penalties for driving while under the influence of marijuana and for providing marijuana to underage people.