MEDICINAL USE OF POT CAN CONTINUE

State Registry: Policy Clarified In Light Of Supreme Court Ruling Last Month.

Alaskans can continue to register with state health authorities to
smoke marijuana for medicinal reasons despite a U.S. Supreme Court
decision last month that upheld federal laws banning the drug.

The state attorney general, David Marquez, has advised the Alaska
Department of Health and Social Services that the court's June 6
decision does not forbid the agency from registering medical
marijuana users, according to a statement Marquez issued Thursday.

In the immediate wake of the high court's decision, the state was
contemplating suspending the medical marijuana registration program,
among a range of actions it could have taken in response, Alaska
Department of Law spokesman Mark Morones said Thursday.

The administration of Gov. Frank Murkowski is known to be hostile to
another category of legal use under Alaska laws, in which
recreational users can have up to four ounces of the drug within
their homes. That limited legal use was reaffirmed in 2004 by the
state's Court of Appeals, which cited the Alaska constitution's
privacy provision.

Medical users envisioned the court's decision as new ammunition for
states that wanted to suppress all use of the drug.

At least two states with medical marijuana programs, Oregon and
California, suspended their registration programs after the court
issued its ruling. Both states recently resumed the programs after
their legal authorities reviewed the court's action.

All use of marijuana is banned under federal law everywhere in the country.

Alaska is one of 10 states that authorize marijuana use for medical
reasons, providing the user provides a doctor's prescription and
registers with the state. That exception to state law was authorized
by a voters' initiative in 1998. About 200 people are now registered
in the program, according to Morones, the Law spokesman. About 570
have been registered since the beginning.

The case before the Supreme Court, Gonzales v. Raich, was brought by
California users of medical marijuana trying to assert a state's
right to regulate such use over federal prohibition.

The court decided that the Commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution
trumped state laws, asserting federal authority to ban use of the
drug despite its legality within a state in certain circumstances.

Within the Supreme Court's ruling, Alaska found its legal haven in
what Marquez called a "narrow constitutional question."

"We start with the presumption that our state statutes are valid," he
said. "Absent a clear statement in Raich that federal law pre-empts a
state's ability to regulate the possession and use of marijuana for
medical purposes, Alaska's registration scheme should continue to
remain in effect."

Marquez warned Alaskans, however, that any possession, distribution
or use of dope remains a crime under U.S. law.

Federal law enforcement authorities in Alaska said last month that
the court's ruling would not lead to increased prosecution of minor
users; they're interested in major traffickers. They reiterated that
posture Thursday.

Marquez's statement "is not going to change anything," said FBI
Special Agent Eric Gonzalez.

The Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project, which had
threatened to sue Alaska and Oregon if they suspended their medical-
marijuana registration, said the state's decision was welcome, though
not surprising.

"What Alaska and now all 10 of the medical marijuana states have said
essentially is the Supreme Court decision does nothing on the state
level," said Bruce Mirken, a Marijuana Policy Project spokesman.
"It's essentially business as usual. ... This was a real clear-cut
decision, and the question is why a couple of states took so long."

Marquez also issued a "talking points" memorandum, listing reasons
why marijuana should be illegal under all circumstances except
authorized medical use. Those reasons include the drug's high potency
today compared with 30 and 40 years ago and its increasing use among
students as young as 11.

Murkowski's proposed legislation, which did not advance in the last
legislative session, would make possession of any amount of non-
medical dope at home illegal under state law. The proposal would not
affect registered medical marijuana users.