Daily Sitka Sentinel

Chamber Hears Panel on Local Pot Issues

By TOM HESSE

Sentinel Staff Writer

What will the tax burden be? What are the transportation options? How will planning and zoning work?

The implications of legalized marijuana in Sitka were in the spotlight once again, this time with the Chamber of Commerce hosting the same panel that discussed the issues at a city-sponsored town hall meeting earlier this month.

Municipal Attorney Robin Koutchak answers an audience member’s question during a Sitka Chamber of Commerce forum on what Alaska’s new marijuana laws will mean for Sitkans, Wednesday at the Westmark Sitka. (Sentinel Photo)

The panel included Police Chief Sheldon Schmitt, Assistant School Superintendent Robyn Taylor, City Planning Director Scott Brylinsky and City Attorney Robin Koutchak. 

Marijuana legalization was passed on a statewide ballot measure last November, and on Feb. 24 personal use of marijuana will be legal in Alaska. The state has nine months to hammer out the rules for production and sale, and Koutchak said it’s going to be important for citizens to voice what they want for Sitka. 

“This is kind of a new world for us,” she said, adding that Sitka should try to have its own policies in place, even if the state doesn’t.

“Are they going to be ready in nine months? I don’t know,” Koutchak said. “Having worked for the state for a number of years I have my doubts.” 

The city is already moving ahead with an ordinance to prohibit consumption in public places. That ordinance passed on first reading Tuesday night. More questions loom, however, and the marijuana panel discussed some of them. 

The legalization measure was approved by nearly 70 percent of Sitka voters, and Koutchak said city staff is still getting used to discussing the issue. One question that came up repeatedly is how marijuana transportation would affect communities. Some towns may choose to opt out of allowing production. Marijuana production and transportation is illegal under federal law, and since air and ocean transport are under federal jurisdiction, transporting the drug in Alaska will be difficult. 

Koutchak said there’s nothing in state law that would prevent growing the plant in Wasilla and transporting it to Sitka, but use of modes under jurisdiction of the U.S. Coast Guard and FAA could be prosecuted under federal law. Koutchak said that’s not likely to happen given the recent “hands off” approach.

“It’s kind of unfounded. As an attorney, I can’t advise anybody to just go ahead and do it. But the reality is, the prosecution just isn’t there,” she said. 

Presently, the federal government is focusing only on prosecuting marijuana cases that involve things such as guns or money laundering, she said

Brylinsky recently attended a conference in Colorado that addressed, among other things, how zoning of marijuana operations is working. He told the chamber audience that the impact is relatively low-profile both among growers and sellers. 

“No flashing lights, no green, neon marijuana plants,” he said. 

Brylinsky also added that the change had very much become a business issue and not a drug issue. 

“It was the people who had business sense and business skills who were successful,” he said. 

The audience asked a number of questions that ranged from curiosity about enforcement to what options Sitka has. One member asked whether it would make the Sitka police more or less busy. 

“I hope less busy,” Schmitt said. 

The top concerns for the department, the chief said, are about policing underage access and driving under the influence. Currently there are no benchmarks for marijuana impairment while driving.

 “Right now we don’t have a blood test or a standard, but I think that’s coming,” Schmitt said. 

The present practice is to give someone suspected of drug impairment the same field sobriety test used where alcohol is the suspected intoxicant. If the person fails the test the police may then get a warrant for a blood test. 

The present plan calls for a state tax of $50 per ounce on marijuana, with local governments allowed to add their own taxes. Brylinsky said it’s important to keep the dialogue going because marijuana in Sitka could soon be big business, the way it is in Colorado. 

“In the year that marijuana has been legalized, the number of retail outlets (in Colorado) exceeds the number of Starbucks,”  he said.