Have you guys heard this yet?

[paullygirl]

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Possessing small amounts of marijuana, even in the privacy of the home, is illegal in Alaska - at least for now.


Gov. Frank Murkowski on Friday signed a bill recriminalizing pot possession. The law will be challenged in court, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska, leading to a likely judicial review of Alaska's marijuana laws.

Another provision of the bill, which is not in dispute, would make it tougher to buy ingredients used in making methamphetamine.

In a press release, Murkowski said the state's current marijuana laws send the wrong message to Alaska's youth.

"We believe House Bill 149 will allow the state to successfully defend the outlawing of today's stronger and more dangerous marijuana in the courts."

The governor is seeking to overturn the 30-year-old landmark Alaska Supreme Court decision that legalized the use of small amounts of marijuana.

While the court then ruled that the right to privacy was far more important than any harm that could result from use of the drug, Murkowski argues marijuana is a far more potent and dangerous drug than it was in the 1970s.

The ACLU of Alaska said it would file for immediate injunctive relief in Superior Court in Juneau on Monday.

Executive director Michael MacLeod-Ball said the lawsuit also would seek a permanent injunction against the marijuana provisions of the law which he said run afoul of Alaskans' constitutional rights to privacy.

Under the new law, pot possession of 4 ounces or more is a felony. Possession of less than 4 ounces but more than an ounce is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail. Less than one ounce is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail.

The measure was controversial in the Legislature among privacy advocates. It also became bound up in a procedural dispute between the House and Senate until it passed in the final days of the regular legislative session.

The methamphetamine provisions of the law restrict the sale of many over-the-counter medicines that are used in making the drug.

The law requires a customer to sign a logbook before buying a medicine with an ephedrine base, such as Sudafed, and makes it illegal to sell those ephedrine-based drugs to anyone under the age of 16.
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O.K. I personally got sick to my stomach when I read this we are fighting so hard for legalization. One of the states that we could count on going in the right direction is now sticking it to us. So now the fight gets even harder.

[XLE420]

I posted it in the news section but it hasnt been approved yet.

Its not cool. Its a step in the wrong direction. Hopefully it will be overturned or something

[paullygirl]

I wasn't aware that it had been sent ordinarily I leave the news up to all of you but it made me sooooo angry. It felt like we were losing a strong hold that we had. I know that it is going for apeal but damn. My father says that advocates have been banging thier heads against the wall of legalization for as long as he can remember. What troubles me is somedays I think why am I doing all of the things that I am doing. If it's not going to make a difference. There comes a time when people have to act on what they want and when you feel the numbers against are more than the numbers for you feel as if your fighting a losing battle. I took it as a real personal loss. I'm not used to failing and when I set my mind to do something I have to accomplish it, losing Alaska was just a kick in the gut ya know.