Initiatives could put legalized marijuana before v

[boulder]

Alaskans could get to vote on everything from legalizing marijuana to taxing cruise ships if the sponsors of several proposed 2004 ballot initiatives get their way.

 

Lt. Gov. Loran Leman announced Thursday that a ballot measure to ban bear-baiting had been certified by the Division of Elections, which means that the sponsors can begin the process of collecting more than 23,000 signatures in order to put it on the ballot in November 2004.

 

The measure is the first to be certified for that election, but applications for certification for four other ballot measures have also been received by the Division of Elections. Leman announced Friday that a fifth application, which would have allowed people to vote on whether Alaska should secede from the union, had been rejected because it does not comply with laws governing initiatives.

 

The four other applications represent an extraordinarily diverse batch of ideas.

 

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One initiative would require a 3/4 vote of the Legislature or a majority popular vote in order to impose any new taxes or to increase existing ones. It would also prohibit any taxation of the transfer of real estate or real property by sale or lease. The broad language of the initiative defines "taxes" as "all taxes, permit fees, license fees and user fees."

 

The second initiative would decriminalize and regulate the use of cannabis products, including hemp and marijuana. The bill would make legal the possession, cultivation, distribution and consumption of marijuana and other hemp products for industrial, medicinal, nutritional or private personal use.

 

It would allow for the regulation of hemp products "in a manner similar to alcohol or tobacco."

 

The third initiative would make a number of changes in state regulation of the cruise ship industry, most significantly through imposing a $46 per-passenger, cruise-ship tax. The proceeds would mostly be distributed to cruise ship ports-of-call and other impacted communities.

 

The initiative also would impose a 33 percent tax on shipboard gambling in state waters; set disclosure laws for shipboard promotions of land-based businesses catering to ship passengers; and set state ship discharge laws and mandate "ocean rangers" travel on the cruise ships to make sure the laws are followed. An additional $4 per head tax would be levied to pay for the rangers.

 

The fourth initiative would mandate that the state of Alaska appoint a task force to study the possibility of exempting Alaskans from having to register for the military draft. The task force would be expected to issue a report on how that could best be accomplished, and the state would then be expected to seek changes in existing law to implement their recommendations.

 

The four proposals have a long way to go before they can get on the ballot.

 

First they need to be certified, which requires that each measure have three sponsors, 100 people willing to circulate petitionsx and approval by the state Department of Law.

 

In order for a certified measure to then get on the ballot next November, the backers will have to gather 23,286 signatures--10 percent of the people who voted in the last election--gathered from 27 of the state's 40 election districts.

 

The deadline for collecting names is the beginning of the next legislative session in January.

 

Reporter Tom Moran can be reached at tmoran@newsminer.com or 459-7590.

[Ferre]

before 1993 it was legal in Alaska anyway.

[Mr Putard]

hahahaha.. yep..they probably still stoned