Pubdate: Wed, 04 Mar 2015 Source: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (AK) Copyright: 2015 Fairbanks Publishing Company, Inc. Contact: http://newsminer.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/764 Author: Matt Buxton SENATORS SAY ALASKA PUTS ITSELF AT RISK WITH MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION JUNEAU - The debate in the state capital building about Alaska's new marijuana law has caused some conservatives to side with an entity they generally abhor - the federal government. In the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday lawmakers who have spent much of the session pounding their chests over federal overreach pointed to federal laws for proof that marijuana is still illegal, regardless of what voters did last year. "Marijuana is illegal in this state because it's against federal law," said Sen. Pete Kelly, R-Fairbanks. "I think the people of Alaska were lied to on that point. I think it needs to be clarified on the record that it's against federal law and nothing we do here is going to change federal law." The committee, which Kelly co-chairs, was hearing Senate Bill 30, a mammoth bill that deals with the gray areas between Ballot Measure 2 and existing criminal law. Ballot Measure 2 went into effect last week and legalizes the possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana outside the home by people 21 and older as well growing up to six plants. The U.S. Department of Justice issued a memo to states in 2013 that essentially said it would refocus its prosecutions in states that have legalized marijuana to prevent minor consumption and drug cartels, trusting states to enact "strong and effective regulatory and enforcement systems." Kelly said listening to that advice would leave states "beholden" to the federal government, likening the memo to President Barack Obama's "goofy executive orders." "We're giving the federal government more leeway to tamper with our lives up here," Kelly said. "Possession and use of marijuana is against the law no matter what the outcome of this is." Sen. Click Bishop, R-Fairbanks, turned heads earlier this session with a floor speech featuring an adaptation of Dr. Seuss' "Green Eggs and Ham" opposing federal overreach on resource development. On Tuesday, he said Alaska could be putting itself at risk with a changing administration. "In this spirit of this I think we ought to ask for an opinion and get a 'get out of jail free' card," he said. "What's to say that two years from now the U.S. Attorney General says 'we're going to enforce this' and now the state is out of the money that it took to implement this program?" Sen. Mike Dunleavy, R-Wasilla, also brought up the issue, pondering what grounds the state had to ignore federal law. He took the argument to its extreme, asking if the underlying justification to ignore federal law might give the state leeway on other, resource development-centric issues. "If we have a law, do we follow the law? If we choose not to, who gets to decide we don't follow the law," he said. "I think it opens up all kinds of possibilities for Alaska to ignore the EPA, ignore the Endangered Species Act." The attitudes were a distinct shift from what has been considered to be a generally more progressive approach by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which worked on Senate Bill 30 for more than a month. That committee opted to remove marijuana from the state's list of controlled substances, making it a regulated substance akin to alcohol. It also proposes to take minor misconduct involving marijuana crimes off easily searchable online databases to protect minors later in life. That's something that isn't done for alcohol, although it's being considered. Sen. Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, is the only member of the Senate Finance Committee who also sat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. While he has expressed concerns over the commercialization of marijuana, he often has reminded his colleagues that both Ballot Measure 2 and the 1975 Alaska Supreme Court case Ravin v. State, which protected possession of marijuana in a home through Alaska's constitutional right to privacy, are black and white. Tuesday, he agreed there's some grayness to the issue of federal laws but said it's not a reason to play it overly safe. "I think unfortunately there is a gray area," he said. "The highest court made it legal to have 4 ounces in your personal residence for personal use. Clearly there are applications where federal law defers to states' rights and there are applications where they don't." The committee will continue its work on the bill on Thursday. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom