If Californians want a glimpse of how the landscape might look should a November ballot initiative to legalize marijuana pass, they could turn north.
They would see complication. And a cautionary lesson. And maybe hope for those who want pot smoking legitimized.
For 35 years, it's been virtually legal in Alaska, with its fiercely frontier mentality, to smoke marijuana at home and grow small amounts there - currently up to 1 ounce - just as proposed in California's Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act.
It's the most liberal pot policy in the nation, made that way under a 1975 Alaska Supreme Court ruling that said that what a person does in his home is protected under an unusually strong privacy provision in the state's Constitution.
The ruling affirmed that anything that isn't harmful can be done at home without official interference, and the justices decided that cultivating small amounts of cannabis was harmless.
The trouble is that even with this constitutional protection, marijuana is still illegal in Alaska under federal law, just as it will be in California even if the November initiative passes. It's even marginally illegal under state law.
Misconceptions widespread
That means Alaska's protection for pot smokers is applied gingerly and is often misinterpreted, officials say.
They predict the same for California.
"We've had this court ruling on the books for 35 years, and I don't think it created Armageddon up here - but there is still a misconception in the public regarding the law," said Megan Peters, spokeswoman for the Alaska State Troopers. "People think they can just have it anywhere, and that's not true."
In Alaska, Peters said, the common practice is that people can keep as much as an ounce at home. Even though a recently passed law made possession a low-level misdemeanor punishable by 90 days in jail, no arrests have been made for simple private use, Peters said. The 35-year-old precedent of privacy rights is still too strong.
Gray area outside the home
The biggest wrinkle to that precedent, however, is that under state law, taking the drug in or out of the house is still a felony. So people do get arrested for possession outside of their homes - more than 1,000 a year.
This all means that just as with medical marijuana - which is state-legalized in both Alaska and California - officials have to tread carefully. That's why Alaska's regulations are commonly called a gray area by legal experts in and out of the state.
"Judging by our experience, the proposed law in California is not going to solve your state's marijuana problem if it passes," Peters said. "Initially, you're going to see a spike in arrests because people will mistakenly think it's all legal now, anytime and anywhere in any amount, which, of course, it won't be. You're going to have to build in a lot of public education - and don't forget it will still be illegal federally.
"These things are never easy."
Marijuana advocates and opponents in both states have been closely watching each other's developments.
Both sides look to Alaska
Californian advocates point to Alaska as proof that pot can be legal for recreational use with no catastrophic consequences to society. Opponents counter that the state has long had one of the highest substance abuse rates in the nation.
"Alaska's been a big social laboratory for 30 years, and we've shown that there has been no big crime surge because of marijuana use in the home," said Bill Parker, 65, one of the founders of Alaskans for Rational Marijuana Policy, a group formed this month to push for full legalization of pot.
"I think it's a great example for California."
A former state legislator and a retired deputy state prison commissioner, Parker said he regularly smokes marijuana. But his group's argument for stripping away the core remaining regulations against pot in Alaska goes further than simple enjoyment.
The group - inspired in no small part by California's ballot measure and led by about a half-dozen Republicans and Democrats, smokers and nonsmokers - argues that pot use is a basic privacy right. The state's 1975 pot ruling asserted this by legal precedent, but Parker's outfit wants to codify it in state law.
The last time Alaskans floated an initiative to legalize cannabis, in 2004, the initiative failed, 56 percent to 44 percent. But that was the highest "yes" vote for grass ever in the state, advocates say, and now with California leading the way, they think an Alaskan approval is within striking distance.
Alaska's eye on California
"Alaskans certainly don't want to be seen as just following California, but the vote there will definitely affect what we do," said policy group member Tim Hinterberger, a University of Alaska associate professor. "If it wins in California, there will be momentum. If it fails, we will learn from that - and still try to legalize it here."
There are those, of course, who want nothing of the kind.
"If smokers stayed home and got high and stayed there, that would be OK - but that's not reality," said Peters, the troopers' spokeswoman. "When people are high, they aren't making the best decisions, so there have to be limits.
"People say they want their personal freedoms, and that's great. But with freedom comes personal responsibility."
News Hawk: Warbux 420 MAGAZINE
Source: SFGate
Author: Kevin Fagan
Contact: mailto:kfagan@sfchronicle.com
Copyright: 2010 The San Francisco Chronicle
Website: Warning, hope for state in Alaska pot protection
They would see complication. And a cautionary lesson. And maybe hope for those who want pot smoking legitimized.
For 35 years, it's been virtually legal in Alaska, with its fiercely frontier mentality, to smoke marijuana at home and grow small amounts there - currently up to 1 ounce - just as proposed in California's Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act.
It's the most liberal pot policy in the nation, made that way under a 1975 Alaska Supreme Court ruling that said that what a person does in his home is protected under an unusually strong privacy provision in the state's Constitution.
The ruling affirmed that anything that isn't harmful can be done at home without official interference, and the justices decided that cultivating small amounts of cannabis was harmless.
The trouble is that even with this constitutional protection, marijuana is still illegal in Alaska under federal law, just as it will be in California even if the November initiative passes. It's even marginally illegal under state law.
Misconceptions widespread
That means Alaska's protection for pot smokers is applied gingerly and is often misinterpreted, officials say.
They predict the same for California.
"We've had this court ruling on the books for 35 years, and I don't think it created Armageddon up here - but there is still a misconception in the public regarding the law," said Megan Peters, spokeswoman for the Alaska State Troopers. "People think they can just have it anywhere, and that's not true."
In Alaska, Peters said, the common practice is that people can keep as much as an ounce at home. Even though a recently passed law made possession a low-level misdemeanor punishable by 90 days in jail, no arrests have been made for simple private use, Peters said. The 35-year-old precedent of privacy rights is still too strong.
Gray area outside the home
The biggest wrinkle to that precedent, however, is that under state law, taking the drug in or out of the house is still a felony. So people do get arrested for possession outside of their homes - more than 1,000 a year.
This all means that just as with medical marijuana - which is state-legalized in both Alaska and California - officials have to tread carefully. That's why Alaska's regulations are commonly called a gray area by legal experts in and out of the state.
"Judging by our experience, the proposed law in California is not going to solve your state's marijuana problem if it passes," Peters said. "Initially, you're going to see a spike in arrests because people will mistakenly think it's all legal now, anytime and anywhere in any amount, which, of course, it won't be. You're going to have to build in a lot of public education - and don't forget it will still be illegal federally.
"These things are never easy."
Marijuana advocates and opponents in both states have been closely watching each other's developments.
Both sides look to Alaska
Californian advocates point to Alaska as proof that pot can be legal for recreational use with no catastrophic consequences to society. Opponents counter that the state has long had one of the highest substance abuse rates in the nation.
"Alaska's been a big social laboratory for 30 years, and we've shown that there has been no big crime surge because of marijuana use in the home," said Bill Parker, 65, one of the founders of Alaskans for Rational Marijuana Policy, a group formed this month to push for full legalization of pot.
"I think it's a great example for California."
A former state legislator and a retired deputy state prison commissioner, Parker said he regularly smokes marijuana. But his group's argument for stripping away the core remaining regulations against pot in Alaska goes further than simple enjoyment.
The group - inspired in no small part by California's ballot measure and led by about a half-dozen Republicans and Democrats, smokers and nonsmokers - argues that pot use is a basic privacy right. The state's 1975 pot ruling asserted this by legal precedent, but Parker's outfit wants to codify it in state law.
The last time Alaskans floated an initiative to legalize cannabis, in 2004, the initiative failed, 56 percent to 44 percent. But that was the highest "yes" vote for grass ever in the state, advocates say, and now with California leading the way, they think an Alaskan approval is within striking distance.
Alaska's eye on California
"Alaskans certainly don't want to be seen as just following California, but the vote there will definitely affect what we do," said policy group member Tim Hinterberger, a University of Alaska associate professor. "If it wins in California, there will be momentum. If it fails, we will learn from that - and still try to legalize it here."
There are those, of course, who want nothing of the kind.
"If smokers stayed home and got high and stayed there, that would be OK - but that's not reality," said Peters, the troopers' spokeswoman. "When people are high, they aren't making the best decisions, so there have to be limits.
"People say they want their personal freedoms, and that's great. But with freedom comes personal responsibility."
News Hawk: Warbux 420 MAGAZINE
Source: SFGate
Author: Kevin Fagan
Contact: mailto:kfagan@sfchronicle.com
Copyright: 2010 The San Francisco Chronicle
Website: Warning, hope for state in Alaska pot protection
