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.