JUDGE ALTERS MARIJUANA LAW

Not Criminal: Ruling Limits Impact of New Law on Possession of Small Amounts.

JUNEAU -- A judge Monday struck down part of a new Alaska law
criminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, saying it
conflicts with past constitutional decisions made by the Alaska Supreme Court.

That means the police won't be able charge people with a misdemeanor
under the new law for possessing less than 1 ounce of marijuana in their homes.

The state Department of Law was expected to quickly file an appeal
with the high court.

Superior Court Judge Patricia Collins said a lower court can't
reverse the state Supreme Court's 1975 decision in Ravin v. State. In
that case, the Supreme Court ruled the right to privacy in one's home
included the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use.

"Unless and until the Supreme Court directs otherwise, Ravin is the
law in this state and this court is duty bound to follow that law,"
Collins wrote in her decision.

Collins granted a summary judgment to the American Civil Liberties
Union of Alaska, which sued the state when the law took effect in June.

Collins limited her decision to possession of less than 1 ounce of
marijuana, even though the new law increases penalties for possession
of more than that amount. Before the law took effect in June, it had
been legal in Alaska to possess up to 4 ounces of the drug.

Collins said she limited her decision because the ACLU argued that
the only issue in this case is the Legislature's power to regulate
possession of small amounts of marijuana.

"No specific argument has been advanced in this case that possession
of more than 1 ounce of marijuana, even within the privacy of the
home, is constitutionally protected conduct under Ravin or that any
plaintiff or ACLU of Alaska member actually possesses more than 1
ounce of marijuana in their homes," Collins wrote.

The new law makes possession of 4 ounces or more a felony. Possession
of 1 to 4 ounces is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.
The part the court ruled against was that less than 1 ounce would be
a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail.

The state Department of Law argued that new findings of marijuana's
increased potency since the 1975 decision justify reconsidering the issue.