Pubdate: Tue, 22 Mar 2005
Source: Anchorage Daily News (AK)
Copyright: 2005 The Anchorage Daily News
Contact:  http://www.adn.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/18
Author: Sean Cockerham
Cited: Alaskans For Marijuana Regulation and Control 
(www.regulatemarijuanainalaska.org/home/)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

POT ISSUE BROUGHT TO SENATE BY STATE

Law Official: "This Is The Only Forum Left For This Subject."

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.

He said he disputes the state's numbers linking marijuana use to crimes.

State officials Monday asserted that almost 70 percent of males arrested 
for domestic violence tested positive for marijuana. Juneau Democratic Sen. 
Kim Elton was skeptical. He pointed out that the tests can detect marijuana 
use from as long as a month back, weeks before a particular crime might 
have been committed.

Elton also questioned national statistics that say treatment of teens for 
marijuana abuse is more prevalent than treatment of teens for alcohol 
abuse. Elton said he doesn't think that's the case in Alaska. And he wanted 
more evidence of assertions linking pot and automobile accidents.

But there wasn't much dispute Monday about the state's claims that 
marijuana is a lot stronger than it used to be. That's a key part of 
Murkowski's argument; the recent court rulings in favor of at-home pot are 
based on a 1975 Alaska Supreme Court decision known as Ravin v. State.

The state believes the courts could be influenced by evidence that today's 
marijuana, especially from the Matanuska-Susitna area and the Kenai 
Peninsula, is many times more potent than the pot available in 1975.

"My hat's kind of off to these guys for the quality of their product," said 
Alaska State Trooper Capt. Al Storey, testifying at the committee hearing.

Parker, opposing the governor's bill, said his side would have testimony 
this week saying people smoke less marijuana when it is stronger. He and 
other opponents of the bill, which also would make it easier for pot 
possession to be prosecuted as a felony, said enforcement costs would drain 
dollars from fighting more serious crimes.

But the state argued that marijuana use is growing among young people and 
is a problem especially in the rural villages of Alaska. Marijuana use 
causes health problems and social ills, according to the state.

It's also a big illegal cash cow.

"It is the No. 1 cash crop in Alaska," said Storey, the drug enforcement 
trooper.

Storey said Alaska produces enough pot for in-state use and export. Alaska 
exports marijuana to California, Washington, Oregon and Hawaii, he said. 
It's not unusual for people on the beaches of Hawaii to offer 
Matanuska-Susitna marijuana for sale, the state trooper said.

"I have to admit we are not real successful in interdicting them," he said.
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