S.

1 : Guaranteeing a Renewable Energy Exchange Network by Safely Trading And Regulating

THC Act
This Act may be cited as the GREEN START Act
Section 1. Findings and Purposes: In the interest of efficient use of law enforcement and
judiciary resources, increasing tax revenue for public use of a clean energy initiatives, and
decreasing the economic and societal burden of high levels of incarceration, be it resolved that
the use of marijuana should be legal for persons twenty-one years of age or older and taxed in a
manner similar to tobacco and alcohol.i
(a) In regulating the use of marijuana, the substance will be treated similarly to tobacco
and alcohol products so that:
(i)
Individuals will have to show proof of age before purchasing marijuana;
(ii)
Selling and distributing marijuana will require a legal license distributed
by the states, as such with the selling of alcohol;
(iii)
Selling, distributing, or transferring marijuana to minors, defined as
individuals under the age of twenty-one, shall remain illegal;
(iv)
Driving under the influence of marijuana shall remain illegal;
(v)
Marijuana sold will be labeled and subject to additional regulations
outlined by the Food and Drug Administration to ensure that consumers
are informed and protected.
Section 2. Definitions
(a) Consumer means a person twenty-one years of age or older who purchases
marijuana or marijuana products for personal use, not for resale to others.ii
(b) Marijuana means all parts of the plant of the genus cannabis whether growing or
not, the seeds, the resin extracted from the plant, and every compound, derivative,
mixture, or preparation of the plant. Marijuana does not include industrial hemp,
nor does it include fiber produced from the stalks, oil, or cake made from the seeds of
the plant, or the weight of any other ingredient combined with marijuana to prepare
topical or oral administrations, food, drink, or other product.iii
(c) Marijuana accessories means any equipment, products, or materials of any kind
which are used or designed for use in planting, propagating, cultivating, producing,
processing, preparing, testing, analyzing, packaging, storing, vaporizing, or
containing marijuana, or for ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing marijuana
into the human body.iv
(d) Retail marijuana store means an entity licensed to purchase marijuana from
marijuana cultivation facilities and to sell marijuana and marijuana products to
consumers.v
Section 3. Personal and recreational use of marijuana: Notwithstanding any other provisions
of law, the following acts are no longer unlawful under federal law in the United States of
America, or any of its respective states, for persons twenty-one years of age or older:

(a) Possessing, using, purchasing, selling, or transporting marijuana accessories or one

ounce or less of marijuana;
(b) Transfer of one ounce or less of marijuana without payment to a person who is
twenty-one years of age or older;
(c) Consumption of marijuana, provided that consumption shall not be conducted openly
in public areas or in a manner that endangers other;
(d) Purchase of marijuana from a retail marijuana store if the person conducting business
has obtained a current, valid license to operate a retail marijuana store or is an owner,
employee, or agent of a licensed retail marijuana store.
Section 4. Regulation of marijuana
(a) No later than July 1, 2016, the Food and Drug Administration shall design and adopt
regulations necessary for implementation of this section. Such regulations shall not
obstruct the business of marijuana establishments and retail stores but such
regulations shall include:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)

(iv)
(v)
(vi)
(vii)
(viii)

(ix)

Procedures for the issuance, renewal, suspension and revocation of a

license to operate a marijuana establishment or retail store;
A schedule of application, licensing, and renewal fees, provided,
application fees shall not exceed one thousand dollars, with this upper
limit adjusted annually for inflation;
Qualifications for obtaining a license that are directly related to the
operation of a marijuana establishment;
a. These qualifications shall be made public to ensure the open
entrance into the marijuana market.
Security requirements for marijuana establishments;
Requirements to prevent the sale of marijuana and marijuana products
to minors;
Labeling requirements for marijuana and marijuana products sold or
distributed by a marijuana establishment;
Health and safety regulations and standards for the manufacture of
marijuana products and the cultivation of marijuana;
Restrictions on the advertising and display of marijuana and marijuana
products including an inclusive warning of the side effects of
consumption;
a. Restrictions on the advertising and display of marijuana and
marijuana products shall be regulated in a similar manner to that of
the advertising and display of tobacco products.
Civil penalties and fines for the failure to comply with regulations
outlined in this section.vi

Section 5. Employers, driving, control of property, and medical marijuana

(a) Nothing in this act is intended to require an employer to accommodate the use,
consumption, possession, transfer, sale, or growing of marijuana in the workplace or

(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)

to affect the ability of employers to have policies restricting the use of marijuana by
employees.
Nothing in this section is intended to allow driving under the influence of marijuana
or driving while impaired by the substance.
Nothing in this section is intended to prevent the state from enacting and imposing
penalties for driving under the influence of or while impaired by marijuana.
Nothing in this section is intended to prevent a person or business who owns a
property from the possession, consumption, use, display, transfer, distribution, sale,
transportation, or growing of marijuana on or in that property.
Nothing in this section is intended to limit any privileges or rights of a medical
marijuana patient, caregiver, or licensed entity, nor is this section intended to change
current medical marijuana provisions.vii

Section 6. Taxation and Allocation of Revenue: In order to properly regulate the commerce of
marijuana and marijuana products, the United States Congress shall enact a tax to be levied upon
marijuana sold by retail marijuana stores.
(a)
(b)

(c)

Such tax shall not to exceed twenty percent of retail price prior to January 1, 2019 but
shall then be determined annually by the United States Congress.viii
The first eighty million dollars in revenue raised annually from any such excise tax
shall be credited to The Federal Energy Management Programs Energy Incentive
Program or any successor program dedicated and created for a similar purpose or goal
of clean energy use and incentive.ix
(i)
The Federal Energy Management Programs Energy Incentive
Program will help facilitate statewide energy incentive programs by
allocating funding and providing information about energy-efficiency
and renewable-energy project funding.
Such tax shall not be levied on the sale, purchase, or transfer of medical marijuana.

Section 7. Effective date.

All provisions of this section shall become effective on October 1, 2016.

i English, Kim, and Germaine Miera. Concerning the Implementation of Amendment 64 (personal Use and Regulation of Marijuana): Recommendation to
the General Assembly per Senate Bill 13-283.

ii English, Kim, and Germaine Miera. Concerning the Implementation of Amendment 64 (personal Use and Regulation of Marijuana): Recommendation
to the General Assembly per Senate Bill 13-283.

iii English, Kim, and Germaine Miera.

iv English, Kim, and Germaine Miera.
v English, Kim, and Germaine Miera.
vi English, Kim, and Germaine Miera.
vii English, Kim, and Germaine Miera. Concerning the Implementation of Amendment 64 (personal Use and Regulation of Marijuana): Recommendation
to the General Assembly per Senate Bill 13-283.

viii English, Kim, and Germaine Miera.

ix United States. The State of Alaska. Elections. An Act to Tax and Regulation the Production, Sale, and Use of Marijuana. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web.
<https://www.elections.alaska.gov/petitions/13PSUM/13PSUM-Proposed-Law.pdf>.