The Keep Cannabis Legal Fairbanks political action committee had raised $47,500 as of Sept. 7, according to the latest campaign finance reports, dwarfing the industry prohibition movement's fundraising.
The Safe Neighborhoods Fairbanks committee raised $7,928.77.
Voters in the city of Fairbanks and Fairbanks North Star Borough will decide the fate of the commercial marijuana industry in Propositions A and 1, respectively. Alaska voters legalized commercial marijuana growing and retail sales statewide in 2014. Since then, Fairbanks has been viewed by many as one of Alaska’s more cannabis-friendly communities, with more than a dozen active growers and six cannabis retailers.
But last summer, campaigns launched by former City Councilwoman Vivian Stiver and another by borough resident Jim Ostlind of Salcha collected enough signatures to put referendums on city and borough ballots. A "yes" vote on propositions A and 1 would prohibit "marijuana establishments," including retailers, cultivators, and product manufacturers, and testing facilities.
Read more at the Daily News-Miner (Kevin Baird)