Pubdate: Mon, 14 Nov 2005
Source: Rocky Mountain Collegian, The (CO Edu)
Copyright: 2005 Rocky Mountain Collegian
Contact:  http://www.collegian.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1370
Author: S.J. Brooks

ALASKA LEGALIZED MARIJUANA FIRST

As a student and daily reader of the Collegian it deeply disturbs me 
that on the front page of an issue of your paper that an (article) 
would be completely false and nearly devoid of fact. And that the 
writer of the (article) obviously did not research this as well as it 
should have been.

The city of Anchorage, Alaska as well as the whole state of Alaska 
would be the first to legalize possession and use of marijuana in 
1975, a decision by the state Supreme Court. It was re-criminalized 
in 1990 but recently overturned, making pot legal. On a lesser note 
several other cities have de-prioritized possession of marijuana 
essentially making it legal to possess. Those cities are Seattle, San 
Francisco and Oakland, Calif.; Amherst, Mass.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; and 
Madison, Wis., among other places.

This can all be verified here: 
http://www.inorml.org/news_stories/national_news092003.htm

While Denver's law is a monumental step for marijuana advocates, it 
isn't the first and shouldn't be sensationalized as such.

Sincerely,

S.J. Brooks

Junior

liberal arts

Editor's note: Denver was, in fact, the first city in the nation to 
fully legalize the possession of any amount of recreational 
marijuana. The city of Anchorage, Alaska did not legalize the drug. 
Rather, the state of Alaska legalized possession of up to 4 ounces of 
marijuana for recreational use. The decision was handed down in a 
state court located in Anchorage.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman