MARIJUANA MOLD THREATENS POLICE

Governor Frank Murkowski's bill to recriminalize marijuana is still
slogging through the state Legislature in Juneau. Murkowski wrote in his
transmittal letter, a sort of cover letter for the bill, that in the 1960s
and '70s, marijuana was "primarily used by college students and hippies."
The governor also wrote that officers don't like to dry and process
confiscated dope crops but have to because it's the law. The weight of a
crop's yield determines which charges are pressed. In his letter, Murkowski
said the buds sometimes get moldy, which "not only destroys the evidence,
but is also dangerous to the officers handling the plants."

Dave Bienstock, a co-editor of High Times magazine, said he's never heard
of anyone getting sick from exposure to mold-infested weed, but he doesn't
think you should smoke it. "I don't think anyone would want to ingest any
kind of mold," said Bienstock.

We also contacted a semi-retired grower from Palmer who recommends the cops
"just get a dehumidifier" if they're worried. Our Valley Green Thumb said
mold infestations can attack living plants, too. Then he digressed into a
story involving an airtight stash box, an Arizona hot-tub party, and four
cautious stoners confronted by mold the next day. "We smoked it and there
were no ill effects on us - at least none that we could tell."

In addition to making pot illegal, the bill would allow one-sixth of the
whole stash's weight declared the yield for the purpose of criminal
charges. (Alaska State Troopers took an average yield from several "test
batches" to get the one-sixth ratio.) The bill would make possession of
small amounts of marijuana a misdemeanor offense. Possession of more than
four ounces would be a class C felony, a charge now reserved for people
possessing a pound or more.