Enough with the marijuana fear mongering

Marcey Luther  

A copy of Fairbanks North Star Borough Assemblyman Lance Roberts’ newsletter was shared with me. I had the experience of seeing firsthand the propaganda that he is sharing with his followers. I wanted to share my thoughts as someone who is employed at a legal cannabis cultivation facility and who also supports personal gardens and homeopathic wellness. My hope is the people of Fairbanks will take the time to explore the other side of this issue since the picture Lance is painting is distorted.

Calling people liars while he is lying is pretty lame. This is what will actually happen if Propositions 1 and A are passed:

• More than 100 people in Fairbanks will lose their jobs.

• Dozens of families will lose their businesses along with their investments.

• Years of work educating, advocating and campaigning will be undone.

• Hopes of a medicinal cannabis market with laboratory-tested and analyzed products, options and choices, gone.

• Tax revenue, cast aside while our state is in drastic need of financial support, so much so that the common people of Alaska are carrying that burden by having their permanent fund dividend seized. (They have a “marijuana PFD” in Washington now, by the way.)

Besides making Fairbanks less appealing, tourists will go outside of Fairbanks to find legal cannabis. 

Lance Roberts is punishing every business owner indirectly in this point alone instead of getting the work done for public consumption regulations and helping this new industry flourish, thus attracting more tourists. Fairbanks is already the industry leader in Alaska and brought home numerous awards from the state competition.

And he does this for what? So he and his followers can feel good about what is “not happening?” 

Hopefully, he understands two things: one, that a regulated and legal product is much more in the public’s best interest than forcing cannabis users backward into the black market and danger. 

More risk occurs in the black market because there is no police protection. Second, this idea will not stop anyone from smoking weed. Lance Roberts may not like cannabis, but other people do. And that’s OK.

And, no, the legality of cannabis is not what we will be voting on. But allowing propositions such as these to be passed is definitely a step toward prohibition and not decriminalization. It’s people trying to control what another group is doing (on their own property), when there are literally no victims. 

So our campaign will always be to “Keep Cannabis Legal,” because there will always be people like Lance Roberts who try to discriminate against us, keep us small, and have their own interests served at our expense.

To the real estate brokers who complain about property values, I would mention to them that there have been only two crimes reported in connection with legal cannabis in nearly four years, (per Data Management at the Fairbanks Police Department) and Fairbanksans have been growing weed since the bohemian movement and even before Alaska was a state. Furthermore, I would venture to say that other types of properties, specifically in industrial and retail areas, have seen an increase in their value because of the legal cannabis market.

If Lance Roberts is going to encourage people to be afraid, from now on it would be nice if he did so with data and reports relevant to our city and our unique demographic of retired people, tourists, Alaska Natives, sourdoughs, pipeline babies, college students, veterans and families.  Did you know that the largest growing demographic among cannabis users is seniors and that underage use has dropped significantly in areas where cannabis has been commercialized? Why, we all ask, is Lance Roberts doing this?

I have checked out the public posts on Lance’s Facebook page. And I am quite disturbed to see a local leader such as him dangerously encouraging alcohol use as a means of coping with stress and depression. Addiction is rampant in our community. How insensitive that he boasts about being able to “drink moderately.” Fairbanks is not a moderate place to be, and an addictive substance being suggested with moderate use is idiotic. People can make their own choice, no one needs him to do that.

So when Lance Roberts says, “it only stops the businesses from being put everywhere,” it’s offensive and it’s untrue. It’s stopping a lot more than that. We will continue our work as individuals and business owners, bringing joy and hope and new possibilities to this community. What is Lance Roberts bringing except fear?