ALASKA TO CONTINUE MEDICAL MARIJUANA PROGRAM

JUNEAU, Alaska -- Alaska Attorney General David Marquez said Thursday
the state will keep registering medical marijuana users.

Marquez's office said in June that Alaska may suspend medical
marijuana registration program after a U.S. Supreme Court decision,
Gonzales v. Raich, gave the federal government the authority to
override state medical marijuana laws.

Alaska is one of 10 states where marijuana can be used for medicinal
purposes with a doctor's prescription. About 200 people are
registered medical marijuana users in Alaska.

"The Raich decision addressed the narrow constitutional question of
whether the federal government has authority to regulate certain
types of intrastate activity under the Commerce Clause of the United
States Constitution," Marquez said in a statement. "Absent a clear
statement in Raich that federal law pre-empts a state's ability to
regulate the possession and use of marijuana for medical purposes,
Alaska's registration scheme should continue to remain in effect."

The Marijuana Policy Project, a marijuana legalization advocacy
group, had threatened to sue if the registration program was discontinued.

Marijuana Policy Project spokesman Bruce Mirken said the group hopes
the announcement sends a message to other states considering
legalizing medical marijuana that federal law prohibiting it is no
reason to not establish their own state laws.

Mirken said other state such as California and Oregon also have said
in recent weeks they will continue their registration programs.

"They've essentially come to the same conclusion that the Raich
decision changes nothing on the state level," Mirken said.