‘Big MAC’: 17-member marijuana board meets

PALMER — The self-proclaimed “professor of pot, wizard of weed” will not be the vice chair of the borough’s marijuana advisory committee.

Darryl Dreher’s tongue-in-cheek self-identification was perhaps the lightest moment of the largely organizational and ceremonial meeting for the advisory committee Monday afternoon.

The committee instead elected Midnight Greenery CEO Sara Williams to the chair the committee by an 8-7 vote over Meadow Lakes resident and former Houston City Council member Link Fannon was elected vice-chair. Votes were taken by a quick show of hands.

Few members of the public attended the hearing at 2 p.m., April 27.

Borough mayor Larry DeVilbiss asked the committee to consider a public vote on a ban measure he had proposed on holding a ballot measure vote, though he acknowledged some vocal constituents viewed it as a second vote on the issue. Borough voters and voters in Wasilla voted against the measure. Voters in Palmer and Houston approved it.

“Some of you get very angry when I bring it up,” he said. “But it needs to be taken care of. Our assembly specifically — when I asked for them to put the ban on the ballot this fall — they elected not to, and at least two or three of them referred to the fact that we have a marijuana board, this is something they should weigh in on. So I’m going to ask that you follow through on that.”

DeVilbiss also asked the board to evaluate possible taxation schemes and regulations, three powers granted by Ballot Measure 2, he said.

Apart from public meeting constant Eugene Haberman, only one other member of the public — Rachel Lake — rose to address the committee. Lake’s experience with medical marijuana had allowed her to reduce the number of medications she took for a medical condition to three from almost a dozen, she said.

“I believe that medical marijuana has helped me … as well as numerous others,” she said.

Assembly Member Jim Sykes, who authored the resolution creating the committee, said he was encouraged by the board’s makeup, which was designed to take into consideration numerous elements within the community, as well as allowing policy on the subject to occur with the maximum amount of time and information.

“I didn’t really see the seven assembly members figuring this out by themselves in the time that we had,” he said.

The board’s purpose was to consider the issues concerning legalization, Sykes added.

“You are essentially being asked if we do choose to do it, how will it work?” he said.

“There are certainly people out there who will try to sway you,” Sykes added. “There are people who actually want to keep the status quo, and keep the black market and keep the illegal situation going.”

The committee held its first meeting even as big puzzles at the state legislature’s position on marijuana remain unsolved. For example, Senate Bill 30, an omnibus-style legislative measure establishing a legal framework for the offenses ended the first legislative session slated to go back before the Alaska House Judiciary Committee for a second round of hearings.

House Bill 79 and HB 75, two other bills addressing facets of the marijuana question, also remained in committee.

HB 123, which exercises the Legislature’s option to appoint a separate board specifically for marijuana, passed and was expected to go to the governor.

The dearth of definitive statewide legislation could mean the advisory commission’s recommendation play a role in assisting statewide policymakers, officials said. They also noted that enrollment in the State’s advisory committee and the borough advisory committee could potentially be a conflict of interest.

A statewide meeting of the Alcohol Beverage Control Board was slated to include information about the proposed marijuana control board Thursday.

Board members, like chair Williams, generally said they looked forward to debating the issue.

“Never did I expect in my life that cannabis would be the thing that made me feel like I could make amazing change in the world,” she said.

Members of the marijuana advisory committee are: Chair Sara Williams, Vice Chair Link Fannon, and members John Norris, Lisa Albert-Konecky, Andy “John” Anderson, Lyn Carden, Darryl Dreher, Savon Duchein, Ed Gavley, DeLena Johnson, Lance Ketterling, Ronda Marcy, Brandon Montano, Crystal Nygard, Rebecca Rein, and Mark Rempel.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.

Editor's note: 16 of 17 members of the board were present. The board will eventually contain 34 members once the 17 alternate members are approved.