Legal marijuana is inching closer and closer to becoming a reality in Alaska, where it’s very likely voters will render a decision on the issue in August.
On Wednesday, Alaska’s pot supporters handed over a petition to legalize the recreational use of marijuana with over 45,000 signatures, according to the Huffington Post. If government officials are able to confirm that at least 30,169 of the signatures are valid, the ballot initiative will be eligible for a vote in August.
If voters decide to legalize the drug, Alaska will become the third state in the country — following Colorado and Washington — to permit recreational pot smoking for those over 21 years of age.
“It’s not that the initiative would bring marijuana to Alaska,” said Bill Parker, a former state legislator and one of the initiative’s core sponsors, to the Anchorage Daily News. “Marijuana is already in Alaska. It would legalize, regulate and tax it. It would treat it like alcohol.”
Although any vote would still be months away, a poll released in April 2013 found that 54 percent of Alaskans supported legalizing marijuana. The state has already sanctioned the use of medical marijuana and decriminalized the possession of small amounts, but the full text of the petition seeks to legalize possession of up to an ounce of pot while also permitting individuals to grow up to six plants of their own.