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Privacy Advocates Fight Criminalization of Pot in Alaska
1.1.07The New Standard

Until last week, possessing marijuana in the home was a private matter for Alaskans.

Your privacy is strictly respected. But on Friday, June 2, Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski signed a law attempting to reverse a 1975 Alaska Supreme Court decision, Ravin v. Alaska, which had established that the state’s privacy laws protected residents using marijuana in their homes.

Murkowski, who has been attempting re-criminalize the drug for the last year, sighted the supposed increasing potency of marijuana and the growing number of adolescent users as rationale for promoting and signing HB 149.

"When the courts have said personal use of this drug is okay in Alaska, that sends the wrong message to young people," Murkowski said in a statement. "We believe House Bill 149 will allow the state to successfully defend the outlawing of today’s stronger and more dangerous marijuana in the courts."

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Alaska is suing the state, alleging the new law is an unconstitutional invasion of privacy.

"With the stroke of a pen, the governor has signed away Alaskans' right to be free from unwarranted government intrusion into the home," said Michael Macleod-Ball, the ACLU-Alaska's executive director, in a written statement. "This legislation is an end-run around the constitution, and we intend to put a stop to it."

Home marijuana use has been repeatedly protected by Alaskan courts, in spite of a 1990 ballot initiative to re-criminalize the drug. As of 2004, Alaskans over 21 years old could legally possess up to four ounces of marijuana. The sale of the drug is not protected.

"With the stroke of a pen, the governor has signed away Alaskans' right to be free from unwarranted government intrusion into the home."Under Murkowski’s law, however, home marijuana users could now be subjected to police surveillance and searches, criminal sanctions and possible jail time.

The ACLU of Alaska’s plaintiffs, Jane Doe and Jane Roe, are anonymous for fear that their marijuana use could now lead to prosecution.

The new law does not make an exception for people who use marijuana for medical purposes, despite a ballot measure in 1998 that removed criminal penalties on the use and cultivation of marijuana by patients who could prove a medical need.

Plaintiff Doe, who according to court documents suffers from a chronic neurological condition called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, says she uses marijuana for medical purposes.

"Even if the legislature makes marijuana illegal, I will continue to use and possess it in my home," said Doe, in a declaration accompanying the lawsuit claiming her condition would worsen without the drug.

The ACLU is also troubled by what it sees as the legislature’s attempt to usurp the judiciary by passing the law.

In a letter to Alaska’s Attorney General David W. Marquez, the state ACLU branch blasted the law for undermining the system of checks and balances: "This legislature may not overturn a decision of the judiciary by legislative fiat simply because it disagrees with the interpretation that has been given by the highest court."

Home marijuana use has been repeatedly protected by Alaskan courts, in spite of a 1990 ballot initiative to re-criminalize the drug.In 1993, a superior court judge set a precedent for upholding the 1975 Supreme Court interpretation despite ballot measures to overturn it.

Judge Michael A. Thompson ruled at the time: "The legislature – nor for that matter the people through the initiative – cannot 'fix' what it disliked in an interpretation of that document by legislation. The only way to 'fix' the Constitution is by the amendment process or a new convention."

Along with the lawsuit, the ACLU is asking a Juneau Superior Court judge for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to block enforcement of the law.

 

nerphroll

Legal for adults or not, marijuana use by adolescents will always be illegal. Increasing pot use by teens has no bearing on the legality of pot. More and more teens are smoking tobacco cigarettes these days too. Why is Gov Murkowski not trying to criminalize Camels?

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SirSmokaALot

I totally agree with this part where more and more of kids are smoking ciggs nowadays. I saw a freaking 9 yrs old kid smoking a stoog other day and i couldn't believe my eyes. I don't understand why this Governor is trying to use that lame excuse "more and more kids are smoking pot and marijuana potency is getting stronger than ever". That guy obviously was on a wrong side of bed when he thought up this dumb idea more likely.. a shallow one.

my other 2 cents... More and more kids are smoking reefer nowadays in general because they're learning the facts that it's not as deadly as government said it is. its the way how people work.. if they've felt that they've been lied to by government then they'll ignore them in specific area where they've been lied to.

dedbr

I think the Alaskan's have already voted and appealed this enough! Next election, they will have a new Governor and a new herb law. You just wait and see.......


Some Where In Ded Land............

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SirSmokaALot

Yeah man i saw that info on erowid.org where it says they've had repealed it or something along that line =D Hooray for Alaska! They be our #1 stoners state lol thats a joke really... well maybe figure this one out yourself

 

Murdock

If you think the drug warriors are going to stop, you sound like just the kinda guy that I'd honestly like to talk to about some beautiful ocean front property in Oklahoma

Sorry, Ded. The drug warriors are relentless and will see to it that Herb is illegal and stays that way!

Buzzby

This newspaper ought to check the facts before publishing articles. The law was passed in June. On July 13th, an Alaska Superior Court Judge declared the total prohibition against marijuana in a person's home to be unconstitutional.

Alaska: Judge Rejects Pot Recriminalization Measure

The judge said that the legislature had no authority to vacate the 1975 ruling by the Alaska Supreme Court that made possession in the home legal. It is still legal to possess up to an ounce in your own home.

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