Alaska voters approved Ballot Measure 2 on November 4, 2014, by 149,021 votes to 130,924, and adult possession and home growing became legal on February 24, 2015. Alaska became the third state to legalize recreational marijuana, after Colorado and Washington, and the first Republican-leaning state to do it. The first licensed store opened in Valdez in October 2016.
What Happened
Ballot Measure 2, titled “An Act to tax and regulate the production, sale, and use of marijuana,” passed with 53.2% of the vote, according to the Alaska Division of Elections. Under the statute it created, adults 21 and older could possess, buy and transport up to 1 ounce, grow up to six plants with no more than three flowering, and give away up to an ounce and six immature plants to another adult without payment (AS 17.38.020). Using marijuana in public stayed illegal, with a fine of up to $100 (AS 17.38.040). The measure also set an excise tax of $50 an ounce on sales from growers to stores and manufacturers.
The personal-use provisions took effect on Tuesday, February 24, 2015. The Associated Press reported it as Alaska becoming the third state with legal marijuana (USA Today). Oregon voters had approved legalization the same day as Alaska, but Alaska’s law took effect first.
Background
Alaska had a longer and stranger marijuana history than any other state. In 1975 the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in Ravin v. State that the state constitution’s privacy clause protected adults who possessed a small amount of marijuana at home. The Legislature decriminalized small amounts in 1982. A 1990 ballot measure, also numbered Measure 2, recriminalized all possession, but an appeals court struck down those provisions in Noy v. State in 2003. (background summary).
The 2014 campaign, run by the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in Alaska with backing from the national Marijuana Policy Project, heavily outspent the opposition group Big Marijuana. Big Mistake. Vote No on 2. By mid-October supporters had spent about $827,000 to the opponents’ $69,000 (Washington Post). The race drew national attention in September 2014, when KTVA reporter Charlo Greene revealed on air that she owned the Alaska Cannabis Club and quit her job to campaign for the measure.
The result stood out because of where it happened. Alaska has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1968, and the vote showed that legalization could win outside the liberal West Coast.
What Happened Next
Measure 2 gave the state nine months to write rules for a commercial market. In April 2015 the Legislature passed House Bill 123, creating a five-member Marijuana Control Board that shares staff with the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. Local governments kept the power to ban or limit marijuana businesses by ordinance or local vote (AS 17.38.210). Licensing took longer than first hoped: Alaska’s first legal marijuana store opened to the public in Valdez in late October 2016 (Anchorage Daily News), and stores have since opened in most larger cities.
Alaska later added an on-site consumption endorsement for licensed stores, with strict limits on how much a customer can use (3 AAC 306.370).
Where It Stands in 2026
The core of Measure 2 is still law: adults 21 and older may possess 1 ounce and grow six plants, and public use is still a fine. The flat $50-an-ounce cultivation tax is still in effect, although lawmakers have debated changing it. For the full current rules, including store limits, on-site consumption and driving, see our Alaska marijuana laws guide. Federal law still treats adult-use marijuana as Schedule I, which matters on federal land and in Alaska’s airports and waters; see federal marijuana laws. More milestones are in our marijuana history archive.
Alaska Ballot Measure 2 FAQ
When did Alaska legalize marijuana?
Voters approved Ballot Measure 2 on November 4, 2014, and legal possession and home growing began on February 24, 2015.
What was the vote on Alaska Ballot Measure 2?
It passed 149,021 to 130,924, or about 53% to 47%, according to the Alaska Division of Elections.
When did the first marijuana store open in Alaska?
The first licensed store opened in Valdez in late October 2016, about 20 months after legalization took effect.
Was Alaska the first state to legalize recreational marijuana?
No. It was the third, after Colorado and Washington in 2012. Oregon voted the same day in 2014, but Alaska’s law took effect first.
Why was marijuana already partly legal in Alaska before 2014?
The 1975 Ravin v. State ruling held that the state constitution’s privacy right covered small amounts at home, a protection the 2014 law expressly preserved.
Originally reported by The Weed Street Journal; rewritten and updated in October 2026 with what happened next.
