HOUSE REJECTS DRUG MEASURE 19-21

Bill Tough on Marijuana, Products Used to Make Methamphetamine.

JUNEAU -- The Alaska House dealt a setback Wednesday to Gov. Frank
Murkowski's efforts to recriminalize marijuana.

Eight Republicans joined 13 Democrats to reject a compromise measure
that linked what the governor called a "must-have" marijuana bill
with a measure that restricts the sale of over-the-counter drugs used
in making methamphetamine.

The vote was 19-21.

House majority leader John Coghill, R-North Pole, described the vote
as a "surprise."

Coghill, who supported the measure, earlier said he was confident
that lawmakers would embrace tougher measures dealing with
methamphetamine, despite some opposition over the marijuana provisions.

"Obviously some other things happened. There was tension between the
House and the Senate and I think that's where we ended up," he said.

The Senate Finance Committee merged the two measures earlier this
session; however, the House last month disagreed with the action. As
a result, a conference committee was formed to etch out a compromise.

The committee made only two significant changes to the bill:
requiring a customer to sign a logbook before buying a medicine with
an ephedrine base, such as Sudafed; and making it illegal to sell
those ephedrine-based drugs to anybody under 16.

House members voting to reject the measure said the compromise did
not answer their concerns.

While many expressed strong support for the methamphetamine
provisions, they said the governor's attempt to recriminalize
marijuana needed a thorough vetting in the House, something that was
denied when the Senate combined the bills.

The marijuana bill had only one hearing in the House Judiciary Committee.

The drug bill contains a series of findings that Murkowski plans to
use as a tool to overturn a 31-year-old Supreme Court ruling that
makes it legal to possess small amounts of marijuana in the home.

The court had ruled that Alaskan's right to privacy was far more
important than any harm that could be caused by the drug.

But according to findings inserted in the bill, marijuana is a more
potent and dangerous drug than it was in the 1970s and poses a
greater threat to young people.

In a press statement issued after the House vote, Murkowski said he
remained "steadfastly resolved" to seeing all of the measure's provisions pass.

"It is time to send our youths a different message. Marijuana use is
not safe," he said.

Murkowski's spokeswoman Becky Hultberg said the governor was still
analyzing his next step for moving the measure forward.

Advocates for marijuana reform say the bill's findings are bogus and
marijuana's effects have not changed in the last three decades.

Michael McKey, legislative analyst with the Washington D.C.-based
Marijuana Policy Project, applauded the House vote and said the
Senate has tried to circumvent the process.

"From the time we've begun, all we've asked for is a fair hearing.
And I believe when we've been given that, we've done well," said McKey.

The House rejection of the measure was even stronger before three
lawmakers changed their votes from nay to yea.

Rep. Tom Anderson, R-Anchorage, switched his vote, but said he still
has concerns about dismantling the court ruling's right to privacy,
as well as the lack of House scrutiny of the marijuana provisions and
the appropriateness of the penalties.

Although the administration has said it will use the law to go after
major marijuana growers, Anderson is worried it could be used against
small users instead.

He believes most Alaskans, and most lawmakers, share his concerns.

"But remember, it's campaign season so there's a different view
suddenly," Anderson said.

The House vote leaves open several possibilities. A second conference
committee could be appointed to work out the differences between the
House and Senate, the House could decide to rescind its vote, the
Senate could vote to pass the original methamphetamine bill back to
the House, or the measure and all of its provisions could die.

Some of the methamphetamine provisions are already contained in
legislation being considered under reauthorization of the Patriot
Act. The federal law would call for sales limits, logs and other
record keeping similar to the requirements in Alaska's bill.

The bill is House Bill 149.