Marijuana ordinances are poor policy

This column is in reference to proposed ordinances put forth by Mr. Thompson and Mat-Su Mayor Devilbis. Your arguments that crime will rise if business are allowed in the valley are contrary to the information coming out of states that have legalized Marijuana. Crime is down, drug overdoses are down and revenue is up and the taxes are providing much need funding for many programs.

We could use that money to pay off bonds we have borrowed against future generations and higher property tax, we could use that money to improve infrastructure, support police and schools. Not to mention the ferry we are storing and maintaining at millions of dollars to taxpayers. We have no plan for the future of this borough. Yes you read that right. No plan. Let that sink in a moment.

So when I see a mayor who is obstructing a viable business model that has worked in other states I have to ask why. What makes a mayor decide that the voters “did not know what they voted for” and put this issue up for another vote? It is one thing to have an opinion but it’s another to take that opinion and force it upon others. Its one thing to be misinformed but to place that misinformation on a population is absolutely wrong. What do they think will happen? People will go nuts and run naked through the streets?

With many heroin and spice overdoses going on you would think they would see how comparably safe this product is. You cannot overdose on Marijuana. You literally would have to eat pounds of it and then you would get sick. Marijuana has always been in Alaska, it’s been legal here longer than any other state. And so far it has not gone to pot. It seems absurd to point more crime use to it. Comparing cannabis to alcohol is the most uninformed thing I have ever heard.

Unlike alcohol marijuana does not kill 50,000 people a year. Contrary to what Mr. Thompson or the committee who put forth these ordinances believes, research is coming out that marijuana can control type 2 diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s and seizures in children. The fact that the proposed ordinances will allow for a 0.03 percent THC level and hemp is so blind to all aspects of this wonderful beneficial plant. Did you know the human body contains cbd receptors? The main benefit of marijuana comes from cbd’s. Limiting the growth of only one specific THC level leaves out the thousands of other plants that may be good for chemo patients or people who are dying.

The fact that we voted for this to be a viable option, whether it be growing it yourself or being able to purchase it should be enough. We have an opportunity to set examples to make history, to collect a tax on something that is already bought and sold in this borough. So why must we revisit the vote? It seems to me that this is a committee who insist on forcing their sense of morality on a public that has already spoken.

Savon Duchein serves on the Mat-Su Marijuana Advisory Committee. He has worked as an advocate for marijuana legalization in Alaska for 15 years.