GOVERNOR SET TO PUSH ANTI-MARIJUANA LEGISLATION AGAIN

The Murkowski administration will "hit the ground running" next
session on a bill proposed last year to overturn a court decision on
marijuana use, said Alaska Department of Law spokesman Mark Morones.

Alaskans are allowed to possess up to 4 ounces of marijuana in their
homes for personal use but the bill could lower that amount to less
than 1 ounce if it passes.

The Senate Health, Education and Social Services Committee heard from
experts last session on both sides of the issue - some arguing
marijuana is a threat to society and others saying pot is less
harmful than a pack of cigarettes.

The bill is awaiting action in the Senate Finance Committee before it
reaches the floor. Then it would head over to the House for review.

Alaska Assistant Attorney General Dean Guaneli said some of the
state's arguments were misunderstood last session. The purpose of the
bill is not to bust college students smoking pot in their dorms, but
to go after commercial growers, he said.

"The police are not getting effective search warrants for marijuana
growing operations," Guaneli said.

Even though officers can smell marijuana coming from a residence, it
is not enough evidence to prove there is more than the 4 ounces
needed to get a search warrant, he said.

Those possessing more than 4 ounces would be charged with a Class C
felony and those with an ounce would be charged with a Class A
misdemeanor, according to the bill.

Michael Macleod-Ball, executive director of the American Civil
Liberties Union of Alaska, said the bill does not increase penalties
for those growing commercial marijuana.

"Criminalizing those with small amounts of marijuana does not solve
the problem," he said.

The bill also tampers with a right to privacy ruling that is unique
to Alaska, Macleod-Ball said.

"All it does is give the police the ability to go into someone's home
if they believe they have marijuana," he said.

A landmark court decision by the Alaska Supreme Court in 1975 made
small amounts of marijuana kept at home by adults legal. It found no
relationship between private use of the drug and the public welfare.

Experts who phoned in to the Senate committee meetings last session
tried to show that in some cases smoking marijuana could lead to violence.

"If I smoke marijuana, I may not be led to rob a store. But I can
lose my job and then be motivated to steal," John Fielder, a clinical
psychologist at St. Mary's Medical Hospital in San Francisco, told
the Senate committee last session.

The bill hearings are a platform to get testimony on the record so
that if the bill passes, the findings can be used in court, Guaneli said.

The state will charge someone for possession of marijuana if the bill
passes and use the suspect's trial to introduce the findings in the
bill, he said. The judge may or may not use the findings to make his
decision to overturn the long-standing ruling, Guaneli said.

The state wants to prevent marijuana from getting into the hands of
children by going after local growers; if authorities can take out
about half of the producers, then kids would be priced out of the
market, Guaneli said.

The bill, Senate Bill 74, was bogged down last year because it was
introduced in the middle of the session and needed extra time to get
through the testimonies, Guaneli said.

Bills proposed last session that did not reach the House and Senate
floors for a final vote are still alive because bills introduced in
the two-year session remain on the table through 2006.