FAIRBANKS, Alaska — A Colorado pot symposium on how the state has dealt with legalized marijuana will draw Alaska law enforcement officers and public officials preparing for pot sales.
At least a dozen Alaska officials will attend the three-day conference, “Marijuana Impact on Public Health and Safety in Colorado,” that starts Jan. 14 in Lone Tree, a suburb of Denver, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported.
“We are just trying to learn as much as we can from what Colorado has already experienced,” said Brad Johnson, Fairbanks Police Department deputy chief.
Alaska voters in November approved a ballot measure that will make it legal to grow, possess and sell marijuana in Alaska.
Johnson will attend the conference as a delegate from the Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police.
Fairbanks Police Lt. Eric Jewkes will also attend, along with the North Pole Police Chief Steve Dutra and the Fairbanks North Star Borough planning director.
North Pole had a mandatory arrest policy for marijuana, Dutra said.
“We took a strict approach to it so there would be some community condemnation. We have relaxed that standard,” Dutra said. “We still forward charges, but we are no longer arresting people.”
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The list of invited speakers at the Colorado conference range from the governor to the state directors of marijuana enforcement and marijuana coordination.
Grace Jang, spokeswoman for Alaska Gov. Bill Walker, said representatives of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, the Department of Revenue, the Attorney General’s office and the municipality of Anchorage will attend.
The Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police is sponsoring the conference with a lobbying firm.
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Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner
