ALASKA MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW STARTS

Juno, Alaska--Alaska's medical marijuana law goes into effect today,
offering a legal shield to people who smoke the weed for a short list of
medical ailments. Nearly 60 percent of the voters in the November election
favored the measure, which allows marijuana use for ailments including
cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, chronic pain, seizures and muscle spasms, provided
the patient has a doctor's recommendation.

The law allows patients to grow limited amounts of marijuana and protects
doctors who recommend it. Growing, selling or using marijuana for
recreational purposes remains illegal and marijuana is still classified
with heroin and LSD under federal law. However, a bill introduced in
Congress on Wednesday would set aside the federal ban on marijuana in the
states that have approved its use: Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California,
Arizona and Nevada. Although the Alaska law calls for identification cards
that medical marijuana users could show to fend off arrest, the Department
of Health and Social Services is not yet accepting applications for a
registry of qualified patients. Even without a card, the law will provide a
defense if people are arrested for using medical marijuana.

Patients will be allowed to keep 1 ounce of marijuana, or grow six plants,
including three flowering plants. "I would expect that the police would
exercise some discretion, and ask appropriate questions that would allow
them to gain enough information to determine if the person is legitimately
using marijuana for medical purpose or just using it as an excuse," said
Dean Guaneli, the state's chief assistant attorney general.

Ned Tuthill wishes the law had come about a few years earlier. The retired
airline pilot was using marijuana to ease chronic pain caused by a severe
car crash when a neighbor complained to authorities about the marijuana
patch on his property in Homer.

Tuthill was placed on probation after a plea bargain that forbids him from
smoking marijuana.

"I have period of times when my pain is so severe that I just can't do
anything," said Tuthill, 48, who says other pain medications nauseate him.