POT ISSUE BROUGHT TO SENATE BY STATE

Law Official: "This Is The Only Forum Left For This Subject."

JUNEAU -- State officials, desperate to overturn Alaska court rulings that
at-home pot is legal here, took their case to the Legislature on Monday.

Assistant attorney general Dean Guaneli told the Senate Health and Social
Services Committee that the state has hit a dead end in the courts. The
Alaska Supreme Court has refused to hear arguments for criminalizing small
amounts of pot, and the governor has made the issue a priority, he said.

"This is the only forum left for this subject," Guaneli told the legislators.

The Senate committee Monday began hearings on Gov. Frank Murkowski's
attempt to overrule the court ruling that adult Alaskans have the right to
possess up to four ounces of marijuana for personal use in their homes.

"Alaska is unique in that it is the only state in which marijuana use by
adults is legal" under state law, Guaneli said, adding that it is still
illegal under federal law.

The state Supreme Court in September let stand a lower court ruling that
at-home adult possession of pot is protected under the strong right to
privacy from government interference guaranteed in the Alaska Constitution.

The governor's strategy is to introduce evidence at the legislative
hearings about the harms of pot to create a "legislative record" of expert
testimony. The state would then use that record and the Legislature's
intent in passing the bill the next time a pot case went to court.

Murkowski's hope is to get the courts to agree the state has an overriding
interest in outlawing marijuana in spite of the constitutional protection.

Alaska legislators are not pro-pot, but some were startled Monday at the
state's presentation of statistics purporting to link marijuana to violent
crime.

"I used to understand that smoking grass made people mellow out," said
Eagle River Sen. Fred Dyson, a Republican and chairman of the Health and
Social Services Committee.

Dyson said he looked forward to hearing the other side's reaction to the
statistics. The Alaska Civil Liberties Union and others plan to testify
against the bill when the committee hearings on it resume Wednesday.

Bill Parker, former state deputy commissioner of corrections and a former
Anchorage legislator, said it is clear marijuana is a nonviolent drug, as
opposed to alcohol.

Parker, representing Alaskans for Marijuana Regulation and Control, said
his side would have its own experts testifying before the committee.

He said he disputes the state's numbers linking marijuana use to crimes.

State officials Monday asserted that almost 70 percent of males arrested
for domestic violence tested positive for marijuana. Juneau Democratic Sen.
Kim Elton was skeptical. He pointed out that the tests can detect marijuana
use from as long as a month back, weeks before a particular crime might
have been committed.

Elton also questioned national statistics that say treatment of teens for
marijuana abuse is more prevalent than treatment of teens for alcohol
abuse. Elton said he doesn't think that's the case in Alaska. And he wanted
more evidence of assertions linking pot and automobile accidents.

But there wasn't much dispute Monday about the state's claims that
marijuana is a lot stronger than it used to be. That's a key part of
Murkowski's argument; the recent court rulings in favor of at-home pot are
based on a 1975 Alaska Supreme Court decision known as Ravin v. State.

The state believes the courts could be influenced by evidence that today's
marijuana, especially from the Matanuska-Susitna area and the Kenai
Peninsula, is many times more potent than the pot available in 1975.

"My hat's kind of off to these guys for the quality of their product," said
Alaska State Trooper Capt. Al Storey, testifying at the committee hearing.

Parker, opposing the governor's bill, said his side would have testimony
this week saying people smoke less marijuana when it is stronger. He and
other opponents of the bill, which also would make it easier for pot
possession to be prosecuted as a felony, said enforcement costs would drain
dollars from fighting more serious crimes.

But the state argued that marijuana use is growing among young people and
is a problem especially in the rural villages of Alaska. Marijuana use
causes health problems and social ills, according to the state.

It's also a big illegal cash cow.

"It is the No. 1 cash crop in Alaska," said Storey, the drug enforcement
trooper.

Storey said Alaska produces enough pot for in-state use and export. Alaska
exports marijuana to California, Washington, Oregon and Hawaii, he said.
It's not unusual for people on the beaches of Hawaii to offer
Matanuska-Susitna marijuana for sale, the state trooper said.

"I have to admit we are not real successful in interdicting them," he said.