The Mat-Su Frontiersman: A Brief History of Ganja in AK

elkamino

Well-Known Member
A brief history of Alaskans and marijuana
Posted: Saturday, September 27, 2014 9:07 pm

Alaskans already enjoy immense freedom when it comes to marijuana possession, according to at least one legal scholar.

In practical terms, a yes vote on Proposition 2 would allow individuals to have six marijuana plants and one ounce of marijuana for personal use, and allow that amount to be given to other legal adults without payment. The law enacted by a yes vote would establish the Alcohol Beverage Control Board as the designated licensing authorities for marijuana establishments. A license would cost $5,000, adjusted annually to keep pace with inflation, according to the text of the bill. If enacted, the bill would also allow a nine-month period between the ballot approval and the adoption of regulations for marijuana establishments. A year after ballot approval, businesses could begin to apply for the licenses.

In some ways, particularly the amounts specified in the personal use section, the new act would be more restrictive than existing Alaskan legal practice, set in 1982 by a law passed in the wake of a 1976 Supreme Court decision, Ravin v. State, according to an article published in the Alaska Law Review in December 2012. The Ravin decision ruled that a 1972 amendment to the Alaska Constitution guaranteeing Alaskans’ right to privacy allowed marijuana possession and consumption in private residences.

Justices at the time ruled that the health hazards posed by private use did not outweigh the state’s ability to, among other things, violate the right to privacy, according to the article. These rights came up again as recently as 2012 when the Alaska Court of Appeals ruled that a law enforcement argument which held that the scent of marijuana “statistically” indicated a felony amount, and was thus grounds for search and seizure, was not “scientific,” in nature.

A 1982 law, passed to resolve a conflict between the Ravin decision and criminal codes stipulating a $100 civil penalty for marijuana possession at the time, allowed citizens to possess up to four ounces and 24 plants in the home for personal use.

A legal principal known as stare decisis — the principal establishing legal precedent — as well as the results of numerous subsequent court proceedings, have hewn to the four-ounce and 24-plant standard. Despite laws passed in 1991 (endorsed by a 1990 referendum) and 2006 attempting to recriminalize marijuana possession, four ounces and 24 plants remains the law of the land, wrote Jason Brandeis, an assistant professor with the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Justice Center.

“The Alaska Statutes have stood as an empty prohibition against all personal use and possession of marijuana since 1991,” he wrote.

Federal law still prohibits marijuana possession. Police officers may still seize marijuana discovered outside of the home, or sold commercially. It remains illegal to give marijuana to someone else, even if you receive no money for it.

The Ravin decision affected only marijuana in the home, according to Brandeis.
 

FrozenChozen

Well-Known Member
And that's where I chime in and say
"and everyone wonders why I'm voting no on 2"

I like the limits as they stand, and I think that current law is adequate regarding possession (in the home).

I really don't want to see the national attention, and I don't want to give up any of the 24 plants I have, especially not 3/4 of them! I'm not entirely happy with the way things are going, but I personally like the evil I know more so than the evil I don't know.
 

elkamino

Well-Known Member
And that's where I chime in and say
"and everyone wonders why I'm voting no on 2"

I like the limits as they stand, and I think that current law is adequate regarding possession (in the home).

I really don't want to see the national attention, and I don't want to give up any of the 24 plants I have, especially not 3/4 of them! I'm not entirely happy with the way things are going, but I personally like the evil I know more so than the evil I don't know.
I definitely see where you're coming from Frozen but do you not trust the clause in the first section of the initiative:

Sec.17.38.010c
"The people of Alaska further declare that the provisions of this Act are not intended to diminish the right to privacy as interpreted by the State of Alaska Supreme Court in Ravin V State of Alaska."


I see that at face value, but don't have legal reading experience! But I see two positives if it passes- improved protections outside the home and with it a general normalization of ganja smokers/culture. The initiative's proposed plant limits of 6 are essentially moot at home, since 24 would remain the law, but would allow clones to passed around. That sounds good to me, but I just grow for myself so we may have different preferences. :)
 

FrozenChozen

Well-Known Member
Sec.17.38.010c
"The people of Alaska further declare that the provisions of this Act are not intended to diminish the right to privacy as interpreted by the State of Alaska Supreme Court in Ravin V State of Alaska."
so why include wording that REDUCES current limits?
I understand that OUTSIDE the home it protects us, but See no evil, smell no evil...
But 2006 Noy vs. State allows transportation/possession outside the home... I don't need to go to a boutique for any reason. Personally I grow some pretty killer mota, and the only thing BM2 would provide me is a solid way to drop my crop every few weeks and have a steady income (not that I don't already have that).... It would supposedly also drop the "street" value of cannabis, from roughly $1000 a 1/4lb to about $750, then add in a 35% retail sales tax ($750 + $262.50 = $1012.50)...(lets break it down a bit further, for top-shelf buds it'll be roughly $12 a gram when purchased by the gram. So, $12x3.5g=$42+tax @35%($14.75) for a grand total of about $57 an eighth .. So; though street value is "reduced", retail value actually will be higher thus costing the smoker an extra 1-20% depending on quantity purchased... still seem like a good idea? Yes our schools and roads will see more money in tax dollars, but first the politicians will see a pay increase, Then the firefighters and police receive more funding, then we hand out about another 1/3 of the tax dollars to state run public assistance programs, THEN roads/ department of transportation see a few million, then if there is ANYTHING left the schools get to dip their hands into the cookie jar, and just to make it "fair" the higher tier (better schools in better neighborhoods) schools get first dibs..... Good luck getting anything more than a crumb though....
In short, Yes I would love to see LEGALIZATION. Will it work with BM2? IMHO, not the way you would anticipate it should. There is a "dark under-belly" of "black market" wares here in anchorage and quite prevalent throughout Alaska, but it has worked for more than 50 years and without BM2 I'm sure it would work for another 50.
I could rant and rave about all the negative aspects of BM2, but I support the burning of sacramental herbs fully, whether for medical, spiritual, or relaxation reasons. I also see many positive facets too. From where I stand, its better for me if BM2 does not pass.
 
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elkamino

Well-Known Member
so why include wording that REDUCES current limits?
Good question. AK's failed at decrim 2x, right? Perhaps the writers of the doc thought they needed to go with low #s in order to get it passed... I'd guess they just crafted their wording off of other state's efforts, and 6 sounded possible.

Or, maybe, they were using my logic, and kinda hoped to just get it passed, then trumpet the "Ravin rights are protected, see?!" line o thought, with 24 at home, no more than six in the back seat.
 

igotagun

Well-Known Member
I would like to go to the clone store and pick up a new flavor passably some flower ready plants.Some competitions would be fun as I like to think I create some pretty good meds and would like to see how I compare.
 

FrozenChozen

Well-Known Member
I would like to go to the clone store and pick up a new flavor passably some flower ready plants. Some competitions would be fun as I like to think I create some pretty good meds and would like to see how I compare.
Doesn't seem like I've ever had an inclination to want to go to a "clone store", I've always been very good at networking. Since I was a young buck, I've had access to at least a few dozen varieties/strains at any given time. I could never bring myself to pay for a garbage piece off of someone's plant, and most people I know wouldn't even try to charge ME a cent for a cutting... I know for a fact that I can produce "top shelf" buds, though variety is the spice of life, I've never felt the need to compare my setup or genetics to someone else's.... We all have different tastes, and the only positive side (for me) I see to having a "clone store" would be the production of more local jobs, and a jolt in tourism (people that don't live locally but are spending their money locally) to anchorage and its surrounding areas ...
I'm a no on 2 kind of guy.... But I have MANY reasons. Follow the proposed bm2 tax dollar revenue spending estimations and you'll start to see why I stand where I do...
Hey Begich! :finger:
Connoco-Phillips :finger:
NSROC :finger:
Oh yeah almost forgot about you Ms.Murkowski :finger:
Don't forget about the ACB Executive Director Cynthia Franklin (who is scheduled to be Executive Director of the MCB and will be receiving a pay increase of about $65,000, nearly DOUBLE what she already takes home. Her annual salary will be more than $130,000 in 2016, and will "rise with the cost of living", allowing an additional $15,000 for each year she remains employed as such (FUCK I wish my pay rate went up with the cost of living....). Her "pay-cap" will be attained after the year 2025, which will mean her annual salary will be nearly $265,000... So basically her pay will nearly QUADRUPLE in a 9 year span....And right now the district average for teachers in the anchorage area is about $30,000 actually a little bit less....So Cynthia Franklin You STINGY BITCH:finger:
 

elkamino

Well-Known Member
Doesn't seem like I've ever had an inclination to want to go to a "clone store", I've always been very good at networking. Since I was a young buck, I've had access to at least a few dozen varieties/strains at any given time. I could never bring myself to pay for a garbage piece off of someone's plant, and most people I know wouldn't even try to charge ME a cent for a cutting... I know for a fact that I can produce "top shelf" buds, though variety is the spice of life, I've never felt the need to compare my setup or genetics to someone else's.... We all have different tastes, and the only positive side (for me) I see to having a "clone store" would be the production of more local jobs, and a jolt in tourism (people that don't live locally but are spending their money locally) to anchorage and its surrounding areas ...
I'm a no on 2 kind of guy.... But I have MANY reasons. Follow the proposed bm2 tax dollar revenue spending estimations and you'll start to see why I stand where I do...
Hey Begich! :finger:
Connoco-Phillips :finger:
NSROC :finger:
Oh yeah almost forgot about you Ms.Murkowski :finger:
Don't forget about the ACB Executive Director Cynthia Franklin (who is scheduled to be Executive Director of the MCB and will be receiving a pay increase of about $65,000, nearly DOUBLE what she already takes home. Her annual salary will be more than $130,000 in 2016, and will "rise with the cost of living", allowing an additional $15,000 for each year she remains employed as such (FUCK I wish my pay rate went up with the cost of living....). Her "pay-cap" will be attained after the year 2025, which will mean her annual salary will be nearly $265,000... So basically her pay will nearly QUADRUPLE in a 9 year span....And right now the district average for teachers in the anchorage area is about $30,000 actually a little bit less....So Cynthia Franklin You STINGY BITCH:finger:
But Frozen, how do you really feel? :lol: :lol:

Thanks for the perspective, altho I'll admit I got lost in the acronyms...:bigjoint:
 

FrozenChozen

Well-Known Member
But Frozen, how do you really feel? :lol: :lol:
Thanks for the perspective, altho I'll admit I got lost in the acronyms...:bigjoint:
ACB- Alcoholic-beverage Control Board
MCB- Marijuana Control board
NSROC- North slope regional oil company (a HUGE yes on 1 supporter)
SYOD- Suck your own .....:P
 
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