elkamino
Well-Known Member
A brief history of Alaskans and marijuana
Posted: Saturday, September 27, 2014 9:07 pm
Alaskans already enjoy immense freedom when it comes to marijuana possession, according to at least one legal scholar.
In practical terms, a yes vote on Proposition 2 would allow individuals to have six marijuana plants and one ounce of marijuana for personal use, and allow that amount to be given to other legal adults without payment. The law enacted by a yes vote would establish the Alcohol Beverage Control Board as the designated licensing authorities for marijuana establishments. A license would cost $5,000, adjusted annually to keep pace with inflation, according to the text of the bill. If enacted, the bill would also allow a nine-month period between the ballot approval and the adoption of regulations for marijuana establishments. A year after ballot approval, businesses could begin to apply for the licenses.
In some ways, particularly the amounts specified in the personal use section, the new act would be more restrictive than existing Alaskan legal practice, set in 1982 by a law passed in the wake of a 1976 Supreme Court decision, Ravin v. State, according to an article published in the Alaska Law Review in December 2012. The Ravin decision ruled that a 1972 amendment to the Alaska Constitution guaranteeing Alaskans’ right to privacy allowed marijuana possession and consumption in private residences.
Justices at the time ruled that the health hazards posed by private use did not outweigh the state’s ability to, among other things, violate the right to privacy, according to the article. These rights came up again as recently as 2012 when the Alaska Court of Appeals ruled that a law enforcement argument which held that the scent of marijuana “statistically” indicated a felony amount, and was thus grounds for search and seizure, was not “scientific,” in nature.
A 1982 law, passed to resolve a conflict between the Ravin decision and criminal codes stipulating a $100 civil penalty for marijuana possession at the time, allowed citizens to possess up to four ounces and 24 plants in the home for personal use.
A legal principal known as stare decisis — the principal establishing legal precedent — as well as the results of numerous subsequent court proceedings, have hewn to the four-ounce and 24-plant standard. Despite laws passed in 1991 (endorsed by a 1990 referendum) and 2006 attempting to recriminalize marijuana possession, four ounces and 24 plants remains the law of the land, wrote Jason Brandeis, an assistant professor with the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Justice Center.
“The Alaska Statutes have stood as an empty prohibition against all personal use and possession of marijuana since 1991,” he wrote.
Federal law still prohibits marijuana possession. Police officers may still seize marijuana discovered outside of the home, or sold commercially. It remains illegal to give marijuana to someone else, even if you receive no money for it.
The Ravin decision affected only marijuana in the home, according to Brandeis.
Posted: Saturday, September 27, 2014 9:07 pm
Alaskans already enjoy immense freedom when it comes to marijuana possession, according to at least one legal scholar.
In practical terms, a yes vote on Proposition 2 would allow individuals to have six marijuana plants and one ounce of marijuana for personal use, and allow that amount to be given to other legal adults without payment. The law enacted by a yes vote would establish the Alcohol Beverage Control Board as the designated licensing authorities for marijuana establishments. A license would cost $5,000, adjusted annually to keep pace with inflation, according to the text of the bill. If enacted, the bill would also allow a nine-month period between the ballot approval and the adoption of regulations for marijuana establishments. A year after ballot approval, businesses could begin to apply for the licenses.
In some ways, particularly the amounts specified in the personal use section, the new act would be more restrictive than existing Alaskan legal practice, set in 1982 by a law passed in the wake of a 1976 Supreme Court decision, Ravin v. State, according to an article published in the Alaska Law Review in December 2012. The Ravin decision ruled that a 1972 amendment to the Alaska Constitution guaranteeing Alaskans’ right to privacy allowed marijuana possession and consumption in private residences.
Justices at the time ruled that the health hazards posed by private use did not outweigh the state’s ability to, among other things, violate the right to privacy, according to the article. These rights came up again as recently as 2012 when the Alaska Court of Appeals ruled that a law enforcement argument which held that the scent of marijuana “statistically” indicated a felony amount, and was thus grounds for search and seizure, was not “scientific,” in nature.
A 1982 law, passed to resolve a conflict between the Ravin decision and criminal codes stipulating a $100 civil penalty for marijuana possession at the time, allowed citizens to possess up to four ounces and 24 plants in the home for personal use.
A legal principal known as stare decisis — the principal establishing legal precedent — as well as the results of numerous subsequent court proceedings, have hewn to the four-ounce and 24-plant standard. Despite laws passed in 1991 (endorsed by a 1990 referendum) and 2006 attempting to recriminalize marijuana possession, four ounces and 24 plants remains the law of the land, wrote Jason Brandeis, an assistant professor with the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Justice Center.
“The Alaska Statutes have stood as an empty prohibition against all personal use and possession of marijuana since 1991,” he wrote.
Federal law still prohibits marijuana possession. Police officers may still seize marijuana discovered outside of the home, or sold commercially. It remains illegal to give marijuana to someone else, even if you receive no money for it.
The Ravin decision affected only marijuana in the home, according to Brandeis.
