Alaska

Regulatory Timeline

1. OCT 2016LEGALIZATION

   First adult-use retail store opens

   Alaska’s first licensed recreational store opens in Valdez, with others following. The state went on to develop the highest per-capita density of cannabis retailers in the country.

2. FEB 24, 2015LEGALIZATION

   Measure 2 takes effect; possession legal

   Adults 21+ may possess up to one ounce and grow up to six plants. Enactment preceded Oregon’s, making Alaska the third state to legalize recreational cannabis, after Colorado and Washington.

3. NOV 4, 2014LEGALIZATION

   Voters approve Measure 2

   Alaska voters approve adult-use legalization with about 53% support, authorizing a taxed and regulated market modeled on alcohol. Alaska and Oregon both legalized on the same Election Day.

4. 2003REFORM

   Noy v. State restores Ravin protections

   An Alaska appeals court strikes down the 1990 recriminalization as applied to in-home possession, reaffirming the privacy protections established by Ravin v. State.

5. 1998LEGALIZATION

   Voters legalize medical cannabis (Measure 8)

   Alaska voters approve medical use for qualifying patients with a physician recommendation, establishing a registry program.

6. 1990ENFORCEMENT

   Voters recriminalize possession

   A 1990 ballot initiative (also Measure 2) recriminalizes cannabis possession with penalties up to 90 days in jail, temporarily reversing the Ravin-era tolerance until courts restored it in 2003.

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