Kenneth Jacobus doesn't smoke marijuana and thinks it unhealthy. But he wants Alaskan voters to legalize pot on Nov. 2.

An Anchorage attorney, Jacobus, joined Yes on 2 earlier this year when Lt. Gov. Loren Leman rejected an initiative to legalize buying, possessing and selling marijuana. Although he joined to help fight for initiative rights, he stayed after deciding the measure's purpose was right.

"[I] felt, hey, they're absolutely right," he said. Prohibition hadn't worked, he said, and there was "no legal way to get marijuana to exercise your right," as defined by the Alaska courts earlier this year.

If passed, the measure would remove penalties against people 21 or older who grow, use, sell or give away marijuana. Sale permits would not be allowed, but the state would be allowed to regulate marijuana like alcohol and tobacco.  All restrictions on doctors prescribing marijuana would be lifted, including for children. Use could be restricted in public or for public safety.

Currently, while police are enforcing possession laws, other crimes like rape and abuse are going unnoticed, Jacobus claimed, wasting an "awful lot of taxpayer dollars." Enforcement isn't that efficient either, he said.

"It's easier to get a marijuana cigarette than it is to get a beer," he said. "We need to focus our enforcement to these violent crimes."

Nevertheless, possession would remain illegal under federal law. In 2003, federal enforcement seized 1.3 kilograms of marijuana, according the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's website.

Marijuana can cause respiratory infections, impair memory, and increase heart rate and anxiety, according to the DEA's site. Pot use can lead to physical dependence, it said, and chronic smokers could suffer respiratory problems like tobacco smokers.

Due to the risk involved in growing and selling it, commercial-grade marijuana costs anywhere from $700 to $2000 per pound in the Midwest, according to the DEA. Jacobus admits that legalization would likely cause marijuana prices to drop and would probably not reduce drug use.  The DEA says marijuana is the "most abused and widespread illegal drug in Alaska."

Past ballot measures have met varying success. Voters approved a 1998 initiative to legalize medical use of marijuana, but rejected a 2000 attempt to allow people 18 or older to grow, sell and use marijuana privately. That initiative, which would have also granted amnesty to those already convicted and set up a panel to consider giving them restitution, failed by 60 percent.

Unlike the federal constitution, Alaska's constitution guarantees a right to privacy, which over the years has been the basis of marijuana legalization arguments. In 1975, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in Ravin v. State that the state has "insufficient" interests to prohibit marijuana use in homes. By 1982, state law said that citizens could possess up to four ounces for personal use.

But the public disagreed, and in 1990, voters passed an initiative re-criminalizing any amount of marijuana. Although the initiative was ruled unconstitutional in 1993 in Alaska Superior Court, the decision never reached the Supreme Court to become the law of the land.

Then in 2003, an appellate court found the re-criminalization initiative illegal in Noy v. State and that four ounces or less of marijuana could be allowed for personal use in a residence. The Alaska Supreme Court refused to review the decision.

Yes on 2 is only one of four groups pushing this year's measure, and whether the initiative passes could depend largely on the activities of the other three groups. Alaskans For Marijuana Regulation and Control have come under-fire for spending over $550,000 of outside money.

Learning from 2000's mistakes, Jacobus said his group emphasizes regulation and privacy, not smoking pot. "In this entire campaign, you won't see a hemp leaf," he said.

Before leaving the Sun Star office, Jacobus was greeted by Sean Smeeden, a member of Alaskans for Rights and Revenue. Previously known as Alaska HEMP, the group changed its name for this election.

Asked if the new name was the official name, Smeeden said yes. But as he left the office, his cell phone rang.

He answered, "Alaska HEMP."

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