Marijuana possession and cultivation now legal in Alaska

Alaska on Tuesday becomes the third state where marijuana possession and cultivation are legal.

While Oregonians must wait until July 1 to legally possess the drug, the personal possession and home grow provisions of Alaska’s legal marijuana law go into effect Tuesday. Like Oregon, Alaska isn’t likely to have a regulated retail industry in place until late 2016.

Alaska Dispatch staff writer Laurel Andrews breaks down the details in this informative Q&A about the new law:

What’s legal on Feb. 24?

For anyone aged 21 and older: It’s legal to possess, transport and display up to 1 ounce of marijuana and accompanying accessories, such as a pipe. It’s also legal to possess, grow, process and transport up to six marijuana plants, three of which may be flowering. Adults can give each other up to an ounce of weed, or up to six immature plants.

So how much pot can you have in your home? Past court cases have identified personal possession as 4 ounces or less. The initiative, however, states that a person can have any amount in their home that is harvested from their six personal plants.

Beginning July 1 in Oregon, anyone 21 and older will be able to possess up to 8 ounces at home and one ounce in public. A household may grow up to four marijuana plants. The law allow people to possess up to 1 pound of solid edible products, 72 ounces of liquid pot products and an ounce of marijuana concentrates, such as hash oil.

In Alaska, state and local officials have made clear that while marijuana is legal, public consumption is not. (Public consumption also won’t be allowed in Oregon.)

The Anchorage Police Department has started a “Known Your Grow” public education campaign targeting consumers.

And file this under only-in-Alaska: Iditarod notebook: Marijuana legalization looms, but no changes for Iditarod racers.

Meanwhile, the Marijuana Policy Project, a national organization that’s pushed for marijuana legalization, launched a public education campaign called “Consume Responsibly.”

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