cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Use Remains Hazy! 





Marijuana Use Remains Hazy! 
Posted by FoM on March 04, 1999 at 12:37:28 PT
Drug shield begins! 
JUNEAU Alaska's medical marijuana law goes into effect today, offering a legal shield to people who smoke it for a short list of medical ailments. 
Nearly 60 percent of voters in the November election favored the measure, which allows marijuana use for ailments including cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, chronic pain, seizures and muscle spasms, provided the patient has a doctor's recommendation. The law allows patients to grow limited amounts of marijuana and protects doctors who recommend it. Although the law calls for identification cards that medical marijuana users could show to fend off arrest, the state Department of Health and Social Services is not yet accepting applications for a registry of qualified patients. Even without a card, the law provides a defense if people using marijuana for medical purposes are arrested. Patients are allowed to keep one ounce of marijuana, or grow six plants, including three flowering plants. "I would expect that the police would exercise some discretion, and ask appropriate questions that would allow them to gain enough information to determine if the person is legitimately using marijuana for medical purpose or just using it as an excuse," said Dean Guaneli, the state's chief assistant attorney general. Ned Tuthill wishes the law had come about a few years earlier. The retired airline pilot was using marijuana to ease chronic pain caused by a severe car crash when a neighbor complained to authorities about the marijuana patch on Tuthill's property in Homer. Tuthill was placed on probation after a plea bargain that forbids him from smoking marijuana. "I have periods of time when my pain is so severe that I just can't do anything," said Tuthill, 48, who adds that other pain medications nauseate him. Medical marijuana initiatives that passed in Alaska and four other states in November were carefully crafted to avoid the stigma of legalizing marijuana for recreational use. Nevertheless, opponents portrayed the measures as the thin edge of a broader attempt at legalization. Because growing, selling or using marijuana for recreational purposes remains illegal, and marijuana is still classified with heroin and LSD under federal law, acquiring the drug for medical purposes could pose problems. "I suspect patients who know other patients will set things up, but really it's a continuing problem," said David Finkelstein, treasurer of Alaskans for Medical Rights, the group that campaigned for the measure. "Some people will go and get seeds and grow their own. That's really the safest thing to do." A bill introduced in Congress on Wednesday would eliminate federal restrictions on states to allow medical marijuana use. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., acknowledged that the Republican-controlled Congress is unlikely to pass the measure. The state's registry of qualified patients must be in place by June 1, said Al Zangri, chief of the state Bureau of Vital Statistics. Patients who want a card will be charged a $25 fee and asked to provide their name, address, Social Security number and a written statement from a physician indicating that they have a debilitating condition that would be helped by marijuana. The bureau will verify the claim by calling the doctor, Zangri said. The patient can also designate a caregiver who also would be protected from arrest and prosecution. Patients will be required to surrender their cards once they no longer suffer from a qualified ailment.
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on March 04, 1999 at 21:22:43 PT
Here's Norml's State Law Page
What I did was bring Norml's State Law Page for you to look at. I'm not sure that it is current but this might be a good place to start. Hope this helps! I just don't know but I wonder that myself since I thought that marijuana was legal in Alaska.
Norml's State Laws
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Comment #1 posted by E.G. on March 04, 1999 at 20:26:11 PT:
Ravin Decision         
 Would someone please enlighten me? Whatever happened to the 1975 Ravin Decision in Alaska. Was it recinded? If Ravinpermitted the possession and use in the privacy of one's homewhy does Alaska need a medical marijuana law now? If the ruling was overturned by legislative action, when was it done and how could this have been done short of a change to the Alaska State Constitution since the unanimous decision of the Rabinowitz Court determined that personal, private use was aconstitutionally protected right. I'm confused. What is the status of personal, private possession and use in Alaska?
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