Pubdate: Tue, 07 Jun 2005
Source: Anchorage Daily News (AK)
Copyright: 2005 The Anchorage Daily News
Contact:  http://www.adn.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/18
Author: Nicole Tsong
Cited: Gonzales v. Raich ( www.angeljustice.org/ )
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Raich (Angel Raich)

FOR ALASKA, MARIJUANA SITUATION STATUS QUO, OFFICIALS INDICATE

Sick Alaskans who have been allowed to use marijuana under doctors'
orders could face federal prosecution under a U.S. Supreme Court
decision issued Monday, according to federal authorities.

The Supreme Court ruled that federal authorities may prosecute people
using marijuana for medical purposes even if state laws allow such
use.

However, federal officials that oversee Alaska said Monday the ruling
is unlikely to result in a rash of prosecutions here.

Eric Gonzalez, spokesman for Alaska's FBI, said he couldn't recall a
federal prosecution of a medical marijuana patient in Alaska.

"We typically target large-scale organizations," he said. This case
"will have no impact on what the FBI is doing here in Anchorage, in
Alaska."

Alaskans legalized marijuana for medical use in a 1998 ballot
initiative. But all marijuana possession remains against federal law.

The state has 198 currently registered medical users and a total of
570 since the law was passed, according to the state Bureau of Vital
Statistics.

Registered user Jim Welch of Eagle River said he is worried that the
decision could be used by Gov. Frank Murkowski to push an
anti-marijuana agenda. Murkowski has proposed to increase penalties
for marijuana possession and use at home.

Although directed at a challenged law in California, Monday's ruling
likely applies to Alaska, state and federal officials said.

In addition to medical use, adult Alaskans are allowed to possess up
to four ounces of pot for personal use in their homes. State courts
reaffirmed that right last year, citing the state constitution's
privacy clause.

Alaska Attorney General David Marquez said in a written statement that
his office will be analyzing the Supreme Court ruling to see if it
means medical marijuana is still legal in Alaska.

Other states have had instances in which caregivers licensed to
provide marijuana to patients have used their licenses to run drug
operations, said Rodney Benson, special agent in charge of the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Agency in Seattle. The Seattle office oversees Alaska.

Local prosecutors also have had a couple of cases involving caregivers
who had more marijuana than is allowed, said Phil Moberly, who
oversees the felony drug unit in the Anchorage district attorney's
office.

But Benson said the DEA, like the FBI, focuses on large-scale
trafficking and will continue to do so, but if authorities see signs
that caregivers are taking advantage of their licenses to traffic in
pot, they will target them.

Benson called the decision devastating to the marijuana legalization
movement.

Advocates of legalization disagreed. Patients have always lived under
the threat of federal prosecution and that hasn't changed with the
ruling, said David Finkelstein, a former legislator who helped lead
the successful 1998 campaign.

"This is basically the status quo," he said. But he said the ruling
was still disappointing.

Welch said he wasn't more worried about prosecution than
before.

"I'm more concerned with Murkowski's demonization of the whole thing,"
he said.

But possession remains vulnerable to federal prosecution, Gonzalez
said. Any amount of pot is considered contraband under federal law, he
said. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake