AP Photo/Andrew Selsky, File
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 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.

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.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

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 on 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.”

More in News

Greg Brush speaks during a town hall meeting hosted by three Kenai Peninsula legislators in the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly Chambers in Soldotna, Alaska, on Saturday, March 29, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Legislators hear fishing concerns at joint town hall

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman and Reps. Justin Ruffridge and Bill Elam fielded questions and addressed a number of issues during the meeting.

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Superintendent Clayton Holland speaks during a meeting of the KPBSD Board of Education in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, April 7, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
KPBSD budgeting in ‘no-win situation’

School board plans to advance budget with significant reductions in staff and programs while assuming a $680 BSA increase.

Nikolaevsk School is photographed on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Nikolaevsk, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
‘We just need more time’

Nikolaevsk advocated keeping their school open during a KPBSD community meeting last week.

Brent Johnson speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Assembly to consider request to Alaska Legislature for 5% property tax increase cap

The resolution was postponed until the next meeting amid questions from assembly members about how the cap might work.

Protesters stand along the Sterling Highway in Soldotna, Alaska, participating in the “Remove, Reverse, Reclaim” protest organized by Many Voices and Kenai Peninsula Protests as part of the nationwide 50501 effort on Saturday, April 5, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Hundreds turn out in Homer, Soldotna to protest actions of Trump administration

Signs expressed support for federal programs, services and employees, as well as diversity, democracy and science.

The setting sun over Kachemak Bay highlights Mount Augustine in the distance on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
Augustine Island geothermal lease sale opens

Tracts are available on the northern half of the island, located in the lower Cook Inlet.

Alaska State Troopers logo.
Seldovia man found dead in submerged vehicle

83-year-old Seldovia resident Roger Wallin Sr. was declared missing on March 31.

Kenai City Manager Terry Eubank speaks during Kenai’s State of the City presentation at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Services, projects spotlighted at Kenai’s State of the City

Mayor Brian Gabriel and City Manager Terry Eubank delivered the seventh annual address.

The Homer Public Library. File photo
In wake of executive order, peninsula libraries, museums brace for funding losses

Trump’s March 14 executive order may dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”

Most Read