OPPORTUNITY TO TOUGHEN DRUG LAWS

This week the Alaska House of Representatives has the opportunity to
strengthen Alaska's laws by passing House Bill 149, which targets
three drugs that pose particular dangers to Alaska's youth:
methamphetamine, marijuana and anabolic steroids.

Methamphetamine, or meth, is extremely addictive and dangerous, and
it's being made throughout Alaska. The key ingredient is the cold
medication pseudophedrine.

Changing this cold pill into an addictive drug requires toxic
chemicals such as acetone, iodine, phosphorous and ammonia, and the
by-products of the cooking process are corrosive acids and poisonous
and explosive gases.

Making meth is literally like making a time bomb. And it could be
going on right next door to you.

Meth cookers have absolutely no regard for other people who might
inhale the poisonous residues of their meth production or who might
be burned by the acids and toxins created as part of the production
of this drug. They have no regard for their own children, who often
are living where the meth lab is located, so why should they have any
regard for your children?

HB 149 would eliminate easy access to the raw materials used in meth
labs. It also will increase penalties for making meth in buildings
where children reside. HB 149 has an immediate effective date. Each
day that goes by before this bill reaches the governor's desk is
another opportunity for meth dealers to risk the health of all Alaskans.

The bill also makes it a crime to possess anabolic steroids that are
used by professional athletes and, increasingly, by high school
athletes. Steroid abuse has serious long-term health risks, and is
especially dangerous for kids who too often look to the professionals
as their role models.

Marijuana is the third drug covered under this bill. Marijuana users
like to wrap themselves in the Alaska flag and proclaim that all they
care about is the privacy of Alaskans. They say that anything adults
do in their homes is OK, as long as it doesn't affect anyone else.
That's all well and good, but let's put aside all the marijuana
mythology and take a fresh look at some facts, and the constitution.

Alaska's Constitution specifically provides that we have a right to
privacy, and the state's Supreme Court ruled in Ravin v. State that
privacy in the home is particularly important.

The right to privacy, however, is not absolute. If there are good
reasons to regulate conduct in the home, then the courts allow the
Legislature to do that. After all, mere possession of child
pornography in the home arguably hurts no one else, but it's still a
crime. Anabolic steroids arguably hurt no one except the user, but no
one is contending there is a constitutional right for adults to use
steroids in the home.

Even with marijuana, the Supreme Court's Ravin decision left the door
open for the Legislature to determine that there is new evidence
about marijuana that justifies laws prohibiting use in the home.

Don't believe all the falsehoods about this bill: It does not change
or lessen the right to privacy in Alaska -- only the voters can do
that by amending the constitution. Instead, this bill reflects the
Legislature's judgment, after a careful look at the evidence, that
there are serious problems with marijuana in Alaska, even in the
home. To put it plainly, that's the Legislature's job.

Two of the many problems with marijuana involve kids and violence.
Alaska high school students who use marijuana started, on average, at
the age of 13. As is the case with cigarettes, kids are more likely
to use marijuana if their parents use this drug.

An Alaska study shows that children of parents who use marijuana are
four to five times more likely to use it themselves. And where do
they get it? Studies show they often get it at home, or at a friend's home.

Marijuana was found in the urine of nearly 70 percent of adult male
domestic violence abusers arrested in Anchorage, but only 5 percent
of men arrested for other crimes.

Statisticians may not be able to conclude that marijuana causes
violence, but there must be a reason why so many more domestic
violence abusers use marijuana compared to other criminals. Fifteen
percent of the defendants arrested in Anchorage for sexual assault
used marijuana just before committing their assaults. Ten percent of
their victims also used this drug.

In the final analysis, the courts will decide if the Legislature was
correct in concluding that the evidence about today's marijuana is
sufficient to get meet the constitutional standard. We have no doubt
that the law will be upheld. The members of the Alaska Senate should
be commended for sending a clear message about meth, marijuana and
steroids. Now the members of the House have a similar opportunity.

David Marquez is the attorney general of Alaska.