Wasilla City Council bans edibles, clubs

WASILLA — The city council voted 4-2 to approve a heavily amended ban on some forms of marijuana use within city limits Feb 23.

Council members Brandon Wall and Colleen Sullivan-Leonard voted against the measure, which bans edibles, sets a maximum possession limit in a moving vehicle of two ounces, and bans smoking clubs.

Several community members repeated concerns that the prohibition on “edibles products, marijuana extracts and/or concentrates” was government overreach, particularly because the predominant smokeless uses of marijuana are for medicine.

For example, Jessica Spence told the council that her 12-year-old-son suffers from multiple medical conditions, including cluster seizures. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, she is personally opposed to recreational drug use, including coffee, she said.

However, given the combination of cluster seizures and a heart defect, the family is forced to keep large amounts of Valium in the house to treat the conditions, which carries with it an associated overdose risk, Spence said.

“Marijuana, cannabis, could be our only hope at controlling his seizures, besides possible brain surgery,” she said.

City council member concerns revolved around labeling for products made with marijuana and concentrates, as well as safety.

“If they do go down to the store to buy some other kind cookies, it’s going to have every single thing down to the grams and the carbohydrates and everything in it,” said councilwoman Gretchen O’Barr. Councilman A. Clark Buswell agreed.

“A brownie, anything like that’s going to be so tempting, I could see a child taking it to school, even, sharing it with his friends, and not even realizing what’s in it,” he said. “I see the same thing as an issue with all pharmacology. You have a pharmacist who puts on the label the grams of the different products are.”

Other city council members said issues about the ingredients in the edibles.

“So the question, I guess, is: does Mr. Buswell’s wife label the bread that she makes with the calorie content or the fat content or any of the contents of that bread before you give it to Mr. Buswell to eat? We’re not talking about what’s sold in stores. We’re talking about what someone makes in the privacy of their own home. That’s where we need to draw the difference here,” Wall said.

He also expressed concern about enforcement.

“We’re not Big Brother,” Wall said.

Council member Colleen Sullivan-Leonard voted against adoption of the ordinance, saying the state and borough are wrangling over the subject.

“I think this is premature. I think this is the cart before the horse,” she said.

A committee might be necessary to examine numerous issues arising from legalization, Sullivan-Leonard said.

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