Mayor right to seek clarity on pot laws

Whatever your opinion of marijuana and those who enjoy it, one thing we think everyone can agree on is this: the ballot initiative that legalized recreational use of the drug in Alaska will almost certainly have huge, wide-ranging effects well beyond just what is considered in those eight pages of ballot language.

That’s why we think Mat-Su Borough Mayor Larry DeVilbiss is on the right track with the meeting he has called for Thursday.

DeVilbiss has said that what he is looking for is not a set of opinions as to whether Mat-Su should exercise its right under the initiative to outlaw manufacture and sale of the plant locally.

Like it or not, that’s a discussion that is almost certainly going to happen in Mat-Su. DeVilbiss just wants to wait to have it until all the facts are in and it’s clear just what state officials intend legalized marijuana sale and production to look like.

That seems sensible to us.

Also sensible is this Thursday meeting, which DeVilbiss envisions as an opportunity to get a list together of all of the things that Mat-Su wants to see clarified when state officials get to work drafting legislation setting rules for marijuana production and sale.

Questions already on the list:

• Is the power to opt out of marijuana sale and production granted to boroughs, or to boroughs and municipalities? It seems like a fine point. But if, for example, the Mat-Su Borough chooses to outlaw marijuana sales, but the city of Wasilla chooses to allow them, it would mean that marijuana is easily available to a majority of Mat-Su residents — those residing in the core urban area — despite the borough’s wishes.

• What does this mean for the cultivation of hemp, a plant grown for its use as a fiber in clothing and other items and for the oils it produces, but which often gets lumped in with marijuana in drug bans? Is there even enough of a market for hemp to justify worrying about it? DeVilbiss, a farmer by trade, has studied it and thinks there isn’t. But others aren’t so sure.

• How do the limitations on the amount people are allowed to possess — up to 1 ounce, according to the law — apply to the active compounds in marijuana when they are more highly concentrated in edible products made with marijuana and oils extracted from it?

• What can the state do to avoid problems that other states with legalized marijuana have encountered with the banking sector? Namely, can Alaska avoid creating businesses that have to deal exclusively in cash due to federal restrictions on banks accepting deposits from marijuana businesses?

Judging by the discussion that has already taken place in Mat-Su, it seems clear the Legislature has its work cut out for it when it convenes this month.

We know that the focus of the session is going to be on the looming budget deficits. But we hope lawmakers will take this marijuana law work seriously, too, and not subvert the intent of the initiative.