>From: "Marijuana Policy Project" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "Franklin Perez" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Court makes marijuana legal in Alaska homes again >Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2006 11:45:05 -0700 > >Dear Franklin Perez: > >Yesterday, a judge struck down part of the new Alaska law that had >re-criminalized marijuana in the state, ruling that the new law conflicts >with past state Supreme Court decisions that protect adults who have small >amounts of marijuana in their homes. > >Until last month -- when the new Alaska law took effect -- possession of up >to four ounces of marijuana in the home had been legal in Alaska. >Unfortunately, the new law attempted to make it a crime to possess any >amount of marijuana in the privacy of the home, directly contradicting a >September 2004 Alaska Supreme Court decision allowing adults aged 21 and >older to use and possess up to four ounces of marijuana in the privacy of >their homes. The MPP grants program funded this litigation. > >Yesterday's ruling -- which you can read about at >http://www.mpp.org/AK/news/12361.mpp -- means that police will not be able >to search someone's home for marijuana unless they have probable cause to >believe that the home contains more than one ounce of marijuana. (The court >limited its decision yesterday to amounts under one ounce -- not four >ounces -- saying that the Alaska Civil Liberties Union, which brought the >case, argued that the issue at hand was the state legislature's power to >regulate "small amounts" of marijuana.) > >The bad law enacted last month was the result of an aggressive lobbying >campaign by Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski (R), who went on a personal crusade >to re-criminalize marijuana in the state. Political observers originally >expected Murkowski's bill to pass within weeks of its introduction in early >2005, but many months of lobbying and grassroots organizing by MPP, the >Alaska Civil Liberties Union, and Alaskans for Marijuana Regulation and >Control succeeded in blocking the bill for one-and-a-half years. However, >the governor's and state attorney general's intense lobbying campaign, >which included personal phone calls to waffling legislators, ultimately >tilted the vote; the bill passed in May and was signed into law on June 2. > >(To help MPP recoup some of the costs of the $60,000 it spent lobbying in >Alaska this year, please visit >http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718055637869942531008165&af=y to donate.) > >Yesterday's court ruling is a clear and direct rejection of Gov. >Murkowski's prohibitionist zealotry -- and a victory for all Alaskans. > >Sincerely, > >Rob Kampia >Executive Director >Marijuana Policy Project >Washington, D.C. > >P.S. Please visit http://www.mpp.org/NYgala to view photos from MPP's >recent awards gala in New York City. > >====================================================================== > >The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 100,000 subscribers on >our national e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's >work in 2006. Please visit >http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718055637869942531008165&af=y to donate >now. > >MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2006 strategic plan >-- http://www.mpp.org/2006plan -- if you and other allies are generous >enough to fund our work. > >====================================================================== >You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail >alerts. To contact MPP, please visit http://www.mpp.org/contact or reply to >this e-mail. Our mailing address is MPP, P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, >Washington, D.C. 20013. > >To remove yourself from this mailing, please go to >http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718057537869942531008165 ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Yahoo! Groups gets a make over. See the new email design. http://us.click.yahoo.com/XISQkA/lOaOAA/yQLSAA/KlSolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> ForumWebSiteAt http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
