WAR ON MARIJUANA UNCONSTITUTIONAL; OFFICIALS SHOULD UPHOLD THE LAW

In Mr. Barton's letter "Appeals Court ruling on marijuana places police
agencies at odds" (Sept. 9) he exemplifies part of the problem in police
forces today.

Surely Mr. Barton, being a law enforcement officer, knows something about
constitutional and legal processes. Therefore I assume he also knows a
constitutional right cannot be voted in or out with a simple voter initiative.

The Ravin decision has been the supreme law in Alaska concerning adult
possession of small amounts of cannabis in the home since 1975.

When Gov. Steve Cowper signed the unlawful recriminalization into statute
in 1990, he said, "This is probably unconstitutional." No one amongst the
many observers asked the obvious question, "Why then, as governor, having
sworn an oath to uphold Alaska's laws, are you signing it?"

For 13 years Alaskans endured violations of their state constitutional
right to privacy, rarely if ever defending themselves from the unlawful
armed invasions of their privacy. They listened as the state spewed
untruths about the harms of cannabis as justification for the waste caused
by the war on (some) drugs; destroyed families and futures.

Ravin is the law, and the Anchorage Police Department and other agencies
can either uphold it or find new jobs and face charges of malicious
prosecution.

"When those who swear an oath to uphold the law, instead choose to violate
the law, then there is no law."

Dirk R. Nelson

Ester