Fairbanks & the Fairbanks North Star Borough Refuff Voter Intitiatives

With over 2,000 early-voting ballots remaining to be counted, currently, the efforts to ban legal, taxed and regulated commercial cannabis businesses in the City of Fairbanks, Alaska and the Fairbanks North Star Borough, failed dismally at the polls yesterday at a 2:1 loss.

With oil revenue in the State down for a variety of reasons, the State losing its credit rating at multiple ratings sources, and the quality of life preparing to nose-dive in Alaska by many standards, new revenues and a fresh outlook prevailed over hype and Anslinger-era BS.

The archaic prohibitionist crowd was sent packing at a rate in EXCESS of 2:1 at the polls.

In short, weed won.... Again.

Though you can set your clock to the fact that the prohibitionists WILL be back to challenge this evolution again.... and again... and again. It's what they do. Maybe someone could teach them to knit?? They clearly need a hobby of some sort.

Edit; Title should have read 'rebuffed' not 'refuffed.' Oh well, new eye-glasses, new keyboard, and more coffee are in order...

Current tallies stand @~a 70:30 split.

A spokesperson for the canna business alliance stated he believed the outcome was related to the fact that (thus far) none of the ills the prohibitionists had warned about had come to pass. (*increased crime in the areas of stores and cultivators, decreased property values, increased use by teens, increased rates of addiction, emergency room visits from over-doses, etc., etc., ad nauseum).

Add to that the fact that the pro-canna alliance(s) had initially raised about 7 x's the $ the prohibitionists had raised, and even in the end, when those trying to ban the shops had put more money into the effort, the disparity in funding either side still showed a 3:1 difference, with the pro-canna-alliance having steadily raised more money than the pro-Anslinger crowd.

Of good humor to us long-time drug policy reformers, Jim Ostlind of Salcha, Alaska (head of the ban the pot shops effort) was quoted on the air as saying that he had (no idea what had gone wrong). In essence, he couldn't logically explain their dismal loss. He sounded genuinely confused.

I chuckled because they're as clueless in political strategy, as they are in regard to understanding the risks of cannabis in general.

Their cluelessness is becoming obsolete in the new landscape. I suspect they and Jeffrey Sessions can find a good red-neck bar to cry in their beers together.

I think that, in part, 80 years of unfettered propaganda, with an unending budget, had some folks (historically) simply believing a lot of the hype, despite what they might otherwise have known via experience, anecdote, etc.

Some folks -still- have a difficult time believing the Gov lies left and right to suit their own ends.

But as the legal efforts continue, and the closeted tokers come out into the sunlight more and more (despite continuing risks to employment, etc.), all the 'reefer madness' hype has failed to come to pass, at least for those taking anything resembling an objective review of facts..

Add that to the need for revenue, and America more and more becoming what I term a 'mercenary nation' (the importance of money and resources sometimes dwarfing belief systems, etc), the dishonesty of the prohibitionist mantras is becoming more clear to some.

The humorous tones heard in Mr. Ostlind's bewilderment on-air this A.M. is some amount of evidence that he still believes all the nonsense re. what cannabis will/can do to users and communities (in the negative).

For some, patriotism equates to never questioning what the Gov says; even when it's comprised of a near-century of (often racist-driven) bullshit.

We win again, but it's not yet real cause to take our eyes away from those who oppose us. Like I said, and as their history shows, they'll be back.. Probably with a whole new set of reasons to jail people who puff or grow.