"Park Ranger" (not an actual park ranger) wonders about herb and the great outdoors: "What's the regulation or position for state parks and pot? I ask this question because I live right at the door of Chugach State Park. So if public consumption and sales are illegal in Anchorage, whoever smokes or eats brownies can just go for a hike around Flattop and such? Or does Alaska State Parks have some regulations now?"
To answer this question, first we'll need a bit of definition.
Anchorage recently clarified the definition of "public" when it comes to consumption, and then a short time later, the state did too. There was some concern among officials that the statutes instituted by Ballot Measure 2 lacked a sufficiently clear definition of "public place," and some local governments, Anchorage first among them, attempted to clarify. The cities of Wasilla and North Pole have also passed similar ordinances.
Although the Anchorage municipality is right next door to Chugach State Park, the rules that matter there are the state's, not Anchorage's.
Read more Highly Informed: Seeking answers to Alaska's cannabis questions
Cynthia Franklin, director of Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, the agency currently in charge of implementing the system directed by the initiative, told Alaska Dispatch News that the definition of "public place" that the board adopted by emergency order on Feb. 24 is identical to the existing definition in Title 11 of state law. The emergency order says a public place is "a place to which the public or a substantial group of persons has access and includes highways, transportation facilities, schools, places of amusement or business, parks, playgrounds, prisons, and hallways, lobbies, and other portions of apartment houses and hotels not constituting rooms or apartments designed for actual residence." That emergency order expires June 23, and the ABC board has proposed making the definition permanent.
Claire LeClair, deputy director and chief of field operations for the Alaska Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation, said in no uncertain terms that the park's rules haven't changed: "It will continue to be illegal to consume marijuana in a state park."
LeClair said the reasoning for that to continue being the case is that state parks are public places, and public use of cannabis is prohibited. Ballot Measure 2 included a ban on public use, and that new statute provides for a fine of up to $100, a civil violation rather than a criminal one.
Keep in mind, though, that a host of changes to state law regarding marijuana, including to criminal provisions and the state's list of controlled substances, is currently being considered by the Alaska Legislature, as Senate Bill 30, so it's not completely, totally, thoroughly settled. But it is illegal to consume pot in an Alaska state park, and that part doesn't seem likely to change.
Whether that prohibition can easily be enforced is a separate question, and one that pot smokers have been gambling on successfully for a long time already. Chugach State Park encompasses 495,000 acres, and much of it, despite being alpine, would seem to offer decent cover for people committed to illegally consuming the herb there.
But don't worry, none of that's new with legalization. People have been smoking pot out in the woods for quite some time already. Because there are different ways of consuming cannabis now, authorities or neighbors may not even know anything has happened. Toking up at a trailhead would seem the highest-profile activity, especially if the trailhead parking lot has homes or neighbors close by, as is the case in parts of the Chugach. But eating or drinking something containing cannabis extracts would seem some of the most difficult to detect and ticket.
So, the answer, Park Ranger, is yes to both questions. It remains illegal to consume marijuana in public, which includes state parks. And yes, as they already have been doing for years, whoever smokes cannabis or eats infused brownies can -- at their own risk -- just go for a hike around Flattop.
Have a question about marijuana news or culture in Alaska? Send it to cannabis-north@alaskadispatch.com with "Highly Informed" in the subject line.