SMALL AMOUNT OF POT IN HOME OK

MARIJUANA: Judge Rules State Constitution Allows Possession If There's No
Intent to Sell.

FAIRBANKS -- A Superior Court judge dismissed a man's marijuana
conviction, ruling that the Alaska Constitution guarantees the right
to possess marijuana for personal use in the home.

Judge Richard Savell of Fairbanks dismissed Scott A. Thomas'
conviction.

Thomas was charged with three counts of felony fourth-degree
misconduct involving a controlled substance for allegedly growing pot
plants in his home last summer. A jury found him guilty of one count
of a misdemeanor charge of sixth-degree misconduct involving a
controlled substance for possessing 2.6 ounces of marijuana.

Lawyer Bill Satterberg filed to have the guilty verdict dismissed. He
argued that Thomas' conviction was not constitutional as determined by
the 1975 state Supreme Court decision in Ravin v. State.

The Ravin decision made it legal for adults to possess marijuana in
their homes for personal consumption as long as the amount of the drug
wasn't enough to constitute "an intent to deliver."

Four ounces of marijuana or more was considered the threshold. State
law has since placed the amount at eight ounces.

The justices ruled in the Supreme Court case that possession of pot by
an adult at home was allowed as a fundamental constitutional right to
privacy. However, a 1990 voter initiative changed state law to make
possession of any amount of marijuana in any location illegal.

In the recent case, the defense argued that the portion of the law
prohibiting possession of marijuana for personal consumption by an
adult in his or her home is unconstitutional.

"A direct conflict in the law exists between the right to privacy
guaranteed under the Alaska Constitution and the statutory prohibition
.. which criminalizes the personal use of marijuana by an adult in
the privacy of the home, regardless of the quantity of the prohibited
substance," reads a portion of Thomas' motion to dismiss his conviction.

Savell granted the motion June 25.

Jim McLain, a legal clerk in Satterberg's law office who drafted the
motion for dismissal, said Savell's decision does not necessarily set
precedent but he expects more debate soon about whether Alaska's
marijuana law is constitutional.