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Never
Mind: Alaska's Failed Legalization Experiment
In 1975,
Alaska's Supreme Court held that under their State Constitution an adult
could possess marijuana for personal consumption in the home.
The
court's ruling became a green light for marijuana use. A 1988 University
of Alaska survey showed that the state's teenagers used marijuana at more
than twice the national average for their age group. The report also showed
a frequency of marijuana use that suggested it wasn't experimental, but
a well incorporated practice for teens.
Fed
up with this dangerous experiment, Alaska's residents voted in 1990 to
recriminalize possession of marijuana. But 15 years of legalization left
its mark-increased drug use by a generation of our youth.
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