FILE - In this Sept. 30, 2016, file photo, a marijuana bud is seen before harvest at a rural area near Corvallis, Ore. Alaska Marijuana Industry Association President Lacy Wilcox said federal legalization could potentially hurt Alaska’s cannabis cultivators who could lose out to other states such as Oregon where production is cheaper. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 30, 2016, file photo, a marijuana bud is seen before harvest at a rural area near Corvallis, Ore. Alaska Marijuana Industry Association President Lacy Wilcox said federal legalization could potentially hurt Alaska’s cannabis cultivators who could lose out to other states such as Oregon where production is cheaper. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky, File)

Young supports bill to end federal marijuana prohibition

Industry cautiously optimistic, calls for stakeholder involvement

Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, helped introduce a bill this week that would end federal prohibitions on cannabis and allow states more freedom in their own marijuana laws.

“For too long, the federal government has stood in the way of states that have acted to set their own cannabis policies. It is long past time to update our cannabis laws for the 21st Century,” Young said Tuesday in a news release.

Young, co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, introduced the bill alongside several other Republican members of the House of Representatives. Republican Reps. Nancy Mace, South Carolina; Tom McClintock, California; Peter Meijer, Michigan and Brian Mast, Florida.

Young criticized the federal government for interfering in state’s ability to set their own cannabis policies and said the bill would remove cannabis from the list of Schedule 1 drugs under the Controlled Substances Act.

“Too many individuals with otherwise clean records have been incarcerated for non-violent cannabis use,” Young said. “This bill includes crucial provisions allowing for the expungement of federal marijuana convictions of non-violent offenders.”

According to the Congressional record, the text of the bill — House Resolution 5977 —hasn’t been submitted yet.

Without knowing exactly what the bill does, president of the Alaska Marijuana Industry Association Lacy Wilcox said she couldn’t comment on the bill itself, but said she was grateful the discussion was starting.

[Gaps in ferry service remains as new board takes shape]

Wilcox said she and other Alaska cannabis businesses are hesitant of the federal government becoming their regulator, and would rather see regulation happen at the state level. Wilcox was in favor of decriminalization and expungement of criminal records, but she said federal legalization could potentially jeopardize Alaska’s cannabis growers.

“Alaska has the highest cost to produce in the nation,” Wilcox told the Empire Monday in a phone interview. “I’d hate to see the cannabis industry in Alaska be just a bunch of retail shops like Starbucks.”

Wilcox said any federal legalization of cannabis should happen with stakeholders at the table. Another bill aimed at federal cannabis legalization from Democratic Sens. Corey Booker, New Jersey; Ron Wyden, Oregon; and Chuck Schumer, New York; introduced over the summer in Wilcox’s opinion gave too much power to the federal government.

But Wilcox noted the political process moves slowly and regardless of which bill moves forward, any major changes to federal marijuana policy are likely a few years away. Wilcox said she was grateful Young was willing to have the conversation, and that he has been supportive of the cannabis industry.

“Any time you have a politician willing to have a conversation, especially a longstanding conservative lawmaker, I appreciate that,” she said.

Young has been in Congress long enough to have voted for many of the federal laws that created harsh punishments for marijuana, including mandatory minimum sentences for cannabis possession. Still, Wilcox said, she was grateful for Young’s support.

“People need to evolve and if you can evolve in public maybe someone else is going to evolve,” Wilcox said. “Any time anybody stands up and says we got to do better job here, I’m grateful for that.”

• Contact reporter Peter Segall at psegall@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @SegallJnuEmpire.

More in News

The Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Encore docks in Juneau in October, 2022. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
Ships in Port for the Week of May 28

Here’s what to expect this week.

The Yées Ḵu.Oo Dancers perform at the end of the Celebration of Life Walk on Sunday at Bill Overstreet Park. The walk, hosted locally by Cancer Connection for more than two decades, occurs on National Cancer Survivors Day. This year’s local celebration featured the first bagpiper, Alaska Native dance group and Native land acknowledgement. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Bagpipes and dancers bring new life to annual cancer survivors walk

“Everyone is touched by cancer,” organizer says at Sunday event.

Chris Meade, a board member of Trail Mix and Juneau resident since 1991, uses a vibrating plate compactor to compress gravel leading to a viewing platform along the Kingfisher Pond Loop Trail on Saturday. (Mark Sabatini / Juneau Empire)
Trail Mix celebrates wild 30th birthday

Birds and the bears add ardor to outdoor trail improvement and cookout gathering.

The City and Borough of Juneau Harbormaster Enforcement vessel drives past the Dusky Rock which sits at Aurora Harbor. The vessel was towed there from Sandy beach Friday evening after three people died within a three-day period aboard the vessel while anchored offshore. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Three people found dead on boat anchored off Sandy Beach

Drug use a possible factor in deaths of one man and two women during three-day span

The Mendenhall Glacier and surrounding area is seen under an overcast sky on May 12. A federal order published Friday bans mineral extraction activities such as mining in an expanded area of land surrounding the glacier for the next 20 years. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
Feds expand ban on mineral extraction near Mendenhall Glacier

20-year prohibition on mining, oil drilling applies to newly exposed land as ice continues retreat

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Police calls for Thursday, June 1, 2023

This report contains information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Bulk food in Food Bank of Alaska’s Anchorage warehouse on April 21. (Photo by Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
State roughly halves the number of Alaskans waiting on food aid, but more than 8,000 remain

By Claire Stremple, Alaska Beacon Mary Wood has been waiting for food… Continue reading

A white butterfly rests upon a fern Saturday at Prince of Wales Island. (Courtesy Photo / Marti Crutcher)
Wild Shots

Reader-submitted photos of Mother Nature in Southeast Alaska.

Photos by Lee House / Sitka Conservation Society
Aliyah Merculief focuses on her run while snowboarding at Snow Camp.
Resilient Peoples & Place: Bringing up a new generation of Indigenous snow shredders

“Yak’éi i yaada xwalgeiní” (“it is good to see your face”) reads… Continue reading

Most Read