If voted into law, the Alaska initiative would allow adults aged 21 and older to possess up to an ounce (28 grams) of marijuana and grow up to six pot plants, and would pave the way for creation of a system to tax and regulate pot sales.

"The initiative has met the state requirement for signatures," said Gail Fenumiai, director of the Alaska's Division of Elections. "It's a matter now of officially getting the certification documents signed by the lieutenant governor."

The push to legalize recreational pot use in Alaska, which is among 20 states that already allow medical marijuana, is part of a broader state-by-state effort to end prohibition of the drug. Activists in Oregon are also gathering signatures to put a legalization measure on the 2014 ballot in that state.