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Alaska Attorney General David Marquez said Thursday the state will keep registering medical marijuana users.
Marquez's office said in June that Alaska may suspend medical marijuana registration program after a U.S. Supreme Court decision, Gonzales v. Raich, gave the federal government the authority to override state medical marijuana laws.
Alaska is one of 10 states where marijuana can be used for medicinal purposes with a doctor's prescription. About 200 people are registered medical marijuana users in Alaska.
"The Raich decision addressed the narrow constitutional question of whether the federal government has authority to regulate certain types of intrastate activity under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution," Marquez said in a statement. "Absent a clear statement in Raich that federal law pre-empts a state's ability to regulate the possession and use of marijuana for medical purposes, Alaska's registration scheme should continue to remain in effect."
The Marijuana Policy Project, a marijuana legalization advocacy group, had threatened to sue if the registration program was discontinued.
Marijuana Policy Project spokesman Bruce Mirken said the group hopes the announcement sends a message to other states considering legalizing medical marijuana that federal law prohibiting it is no reason to not establish their own state laws.
Mirken said other state such as California and Oregon also have said in recent weeks they will continue their registration programs.
"They've essentially come to the same conclusion that the Raich decision changes nothing on the state level," Mirken said.
Source: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (AK)
Copyright: 2005 Fairbanks Publishing Company, Inc.
Contact: letters@newsminer.com
Website: https://www.news-miner.com/
Marquez's office said in June that Alaska may suspend medical marijuana registration program after a U.S. Supreme Court decision, Gonzales v. Raich, gave the federal government the authority to override state medical marijuana laws.
Alaska is one of 10 states where marijuana can be used for medicinal purposes with a doctor's prescription. About 200 people are registered medical marijuana users in Alaska.
"The Raich decision addressed the narrow constitutional question of whether the federal government has authority to regulate certain types of intrastate activity under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution," Marquez said in a statement. "Absent a clear statement in Raich that federal law pre-empts a state's ability to regulate the possession and use of marijuana for medical purposes, Alaska's registration scheme should continue to remain in effect."
The Marijuana Policy Project, a marijuana legalization advocacy group, had threatened to sue if the registration program was discontinued.
Marijuana Policy Project spokesman Bruce Mirken said the group hopes the announcement sends a message to other states considering legalizing medical marijuana that federal law prohibiting it is no reason to not establish their own state laws.
Mirken said other state such as California and Oregon also have said in recent weeks they will continue their registration programs.
"They've essentially come to the same conclusion that the Raich decision changes nothing on the state level," Mirken said.
Source: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (AK)
Copyright: 2005 Fairbanks Publishing Company, Inc.
Contact: letters@newsminer.com
Website: https://www.news-miner.com/
