Alaska marijuana board drafts repeal of required health warnings in pot ads

Alaska's Marijuana Control Board is moving toward repealing the five health warnings state rules require in ads for marijuana products, and an Anchorage retailer has asked the state to scrap them right away.

The board amended an initial draft Sept. 22 and approved sending it to the Department of Law for initial review. It's an early step. The public won't get a 30-day comment period until Law signs off, which "will not open for some time," a state official wrote last month.

The warnings now required in those ads read:

• "Marijuana has intoxicating effects and may be habit forming and addictive."

• "Marijuana impairs concentration, coordination, and judgment. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under its influence."

• "There are health risks associated with consumption of marijuana."

• "For use only by adults twenty-one and older. Keep out of the reach of children."

• "Marijuana should not be used by women who are pregnant or breast feeding."

The draft would also drop two other ad rules. One bars marketing aimed at cellphones and other location-based devices, unless it comes through an app the owner installed. The other lets marijuana businesses sponsor trade shows, charity events, sporting events and concerts only if no more than 30% of the crowd is expected to be under 21.

Rules that would stay include bans on ads near schools, parks and treatment centers, and on ads that appeal to people under 21 or claim marijuana has curative or therapeutic effects.

Dru Malone of Southside Growers Co-op, an Anchorage retailer, asked the state Oct. 23 to repeal the warnings right away. The filing argues the rule violates the Alaska Constitution's equal protection guarantee because alcohol businesses face no similar requirement, leaving cannabis businesses "forced to project an artificially inflated image of danger to the public." It says alcohol carries higher risks of dependency, organ damage and fatal overdose.

Kristina Serezhenkov of the Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office replied that the repeal was already in the works. "A comment received at this point in the regulations process doesn't have an effect on the project right now," she wrote, urging Malone to comment again once the public comment period opens.

The board will see the exchange at its Nov. 18-19 meeting in Anchorage.