MJ in AK

I was reading about the MJ laws in Alaska and I am slightly confused. It seems like it basically says that MJ has been decriminalized within the home as long as you have under 4oz and 12 plants. Is that just for patients, or is that an all around rule? And how long is a flight from Alaska to Russia? Sarah Palin acts like she was watching the Russian government through a telescope on the shores of Alaska.

Sorry to no to get to this sooner. The reason you're confused is because its confusing, and even legal scholars don't know the answer, yet. As you'll see in the timeline I pasted below (from an Anchorage Daily News story last summer), basically the state Supreme Court ruled in '75 that a person's right to privacy is greater than the state's need to keep you from having marijuana. Five years later the state leg ruled that "up to 4 oz." is a small enough amount to be considered "reasonable." Then in 2006 "our" representatives in the legislature tried to recriminalize it. But no one was charged under the law, Murkowski's gone and the status of the statute is unknown because it hasn't been tested in court. It will have to be challenged in the state supreme court before the grayness becomes black and white.

The state Supreme Court hasn't ruled on the "less than 25 plants" rule either.

Good news is that a legalization measure should appear on the AK state ballot next year, in 2014, assuming signature gatherers get enough signatures. Don't assume anything though as AK voters have defeated legalization measures in 2000 and 2004. Learn more here:

http://www.theweedblog.com/alaska-n...t-for-2014-marijuana-legalization-initiative/

And thank you, legalization advocates!


Alaska's Marijuana Timeline

• August 1972: Alaska voters overwhelmingly approve a right to privacy amendment to the state constitution.
• December 1972: Homer resident Irwin Ravin pushes a test case under the new right, arranging to get charged for possession of two joints.
• 1975: Alaska Supreme Court rules unanimously in favor of Ravin, declaring that the right to privacy trumps the law banning possession of small amounts of pot in a person's home. It doesn't define how much pot that is.
• 1982: The Alaska Legislature settles on four ounces as the most a person can possess before committing a misdemeanor.
• 1990: Voters pass a recriminalization initiative, 105,263 to 88,644. It's eventually struck down as unconstitutional.
• 1998: Voters approve a medical marijuana initiative, 131,586 to 92,701. But the state never establishes any marijuana dispensaries, and buying an selling pot remains illegal.
• 2000: Voters crush an initiative to fully legalize pot and pay restitution to people imprisoned under the law, 165,315 to 114,321.
• 2004: A less sweeping initiative to legalize pot is defeated, 169,608 to 134,647.
• 2006: At Gov. Frank Murkowski's urging, the Alaska Legislature passes another bill recriminalizing possession of small amounts of pot. Murkowski hopes to use Legislative findings to convince the Supreme Court to overturn Ravin, but Murkowski is voted out of office and no one is busted under the new law to create a situation under which it can be brought to the high court.
• June 14, 2013: Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell certifies an initiative to legalize pot in Alaska and establish a regulatory framework under which it can be grown and marketed. If backers get enough signatures, it will appear on the primary ballot in August.
  Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2013/09/07/3063577/timeline-alaska-and-marijuana.html#storylink=cpy