woodsmantoker
Well-Known Member
RIP: Alaskan Pot Pioneer Irwin Ravin 
Wednesday, 14 April 2010 14:29 The man who legalized marijuana in Alaska passed away on Sunday. In the '70s, Irwin Ravin challenged Alaska's privacy law and won, allowing residents to possess up to four ounces.
Ravin's 1973 arrest for marijuana possession during a traffic stop was intentional. He and fellow lawyer Robert Wagstaff used it as a test case to challenge the state's pot law. Ravin v. Alaska concluded that Alaskans' right to possess marijuana in their homes was constitutionally protected. "The Ravin decision in 1975 was then, and remains still today, 35 years later, the most significant constitutional ruling ever handed down in this country regarding the marijuana laws," says NORML founder Keith Stroup.
"He elected to put himself at risk in order to take the issue to the state Supreme Court," Stroup adds. "He was a true patriot. Based on the right to privacy provisions of the Alaska state constitution, the Alaska Supreme Court held that the laws were unconstitutional as they pertained to marijuana possessed in the home for personal use. As a result, over the years subsequent decisions held that up to four ounces of marijuana in the home were presumed for personal use. Even if a police officer came walking by and smelled someone smoking marijuana, that would not constitute probable cause to make an arrest, or even to obtain a search warrant.
"More recently former Republican Gov. Murkowski attempted to recriminalize marijuana legislatively, and again the courts held the law to be an unconstitutional violation of the right to privacy, and upheld the Ravin decision."
In his later years, Ravin stop practicing law and drove a cab instead in Homer. He suffered a heart attack on Apr. 7 and died at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage four days later. Ravin was 70.
"Certainly, everyone has a story to tell about Irwin Ravin," Mike and Maka Fairman write in a letter to the Homer Tribune. "He was too cool. He did not judge others, in fact, he did not speak much at all to anyone. When he did, it was quiet and to the point. He was a remarkably gentle soul, one that will be missed, sitting in front of the bars, everywhere in Homer that cabs go. Thank you Irwin Ravin for gracing this cosmic hamlet with your presence."
Wednesday, 14 April 2010 14:29 The man who legalized marijuana in Alaska passed away on Sunday. In the '70s, Irwin Ravin challenged Alaska's privacy law and won, allowing residents to possess up to four ounces.Ravin's 1973 arrest for marijuana possession during a traffic stop was intentional. He and fellow lawyer Robert Wagstaff used it as a test case to challenge the state's pot law. Ravin v. Alaska concluded that Alaskans' right to possess marijuana in their homes was constitutionally protected. "The Ravin decision in 1975 was then, and remains still today, 35 years later, the most significant constitutional ruling ever handed down in this country regarding the marijuana laws," says NORML founder Keith Stroup. "He elected to put himself at risk in order to take the issue to the state Supreme Court," Stroup adds. "He was a true patriot. Based on the right to privacy provisions of the Alaska state constitution, the Alaska Supreme Court held that the laws were unconstitutional as they pertained to marijuana possessed in the home for personal use. As a result, over the years subsequent decisions held that up to four ounces of marijuana in the home were presumed for personal use. Even if a police officer came walking by and smelled someone smoking marijuana, that would not constitute probable cause to make an arrest, or even to obtain a search warrant.
"More recently former Republican Gov. Murkowski attempted to recriminalize marijuana legislatively, and again the courts held the law to be an unconstitutional violation of the right to privacy, and upheld the Ravin decision."
In his later years, Ravin stop practicing law and drove a cab instead in Homer. He suffered a heart attack on Apr. 7 and died at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage four days later. Ravin was 70.
"Certainly, everyone has a story to tell about Irwin Ravin," Mike and Maka Fairman write in a letter to the Homer Tribune. "He was too cool. He did not judge others, in fact, he did not speak much at all to anyone. When he did, it was quiet and to the point. He was a remarkably gentle soul, one that will be missed, sitting in front of the bars, everywhere in Homer that cabs go. Thank you Irwin Ravin for gracing this cosmic hamlet with your presence."
