Herb Ninja

Pot issue brought to Senate by state

3-22-2005 | SEAN COCKERHAM | Anchorage Daily News

JUNEAU -- State officials, desperate to overturn Alaska court rulings that at-home pot is legal here, took their case to the Legislature on Monday.

Assistant attorney general Dean Guaneli told the Senate Health and Social Services Committee that the state has hit a dead end in the courts. The Alaska Supreme Court has refused to hear arguments for criminalizing small amounts of pot, and the governor has made the issue a priority, he said.

"This is the only forum left for this subject," Guaneli told the legislators.

The Senate committee Monday began hearings on Gov. Frank Murkowski's attempt to overrule the court ruling that adult Alaskans have the right to possess up to four ounces of marijuana for personal use in their homes.

"Alaska is unique in that it is the only state in which marijuana use by adults is legal" under state law, Guaneli said, adding that it is still illegal under federal law.

The state Supreme Court in September let stand a lower court ruling that at-home adult possession of pot is protected under the strong right to privacy from government interference guaranteed in the Alaska Constitution.

The governor's strategy is to introduce evidence at the legislative hearings about the harms of pot to create a "legislative record" of expert testimony. The state would then use that record and the Legislature's intent in passing the bill the next time a pot case went to court.

Murkowski's hope is to get the courts to agree the state has an overriding interest in outlawing marijuana in spite of the constitutional protection.

Alaska legislators are not pro-pot, but some were startled Monday at the state's presentation of statistics purporting to link marijuana to violent crime.

"I used to understand that smoking grass made people mellow out," said Eagle River Sen. Fred Dyson, a Republican and chairman of the Health and Social Services Committee.

Dyson said he looked forward to hearing the other side's reaction to the statistics. The Alaska Civil Liberties Union and others plan to testify against the bill when the committee hearings on it resume Wednesday.

Bill Parker, former state deputy commissioner of corrections and a former Anchorage legislator, said it is clear marijuana is a nonviolent drug, as opposed to alcohol.

Parker, representing Alaskans for Marijuana Regulation and Control, said his side would have its own experts testifying before the committee.

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