Alaska court protects cannabis consumers

Alaska's Court of Appeals ruled Friday that police cannot execute a search warrant in a person's home for possession of less than 4 ounces of marijuana.

The opinion is the latest decision that has carved out protections for possessing marijuana in an Alaska home. The state Supreme Court in 1975 ruled that an adult's rights to limited marijuana possession was protected under the state constitution's privacy provisions. Last year, the Appeals Court defined that limit as 4 ounces.

The Appeals Court also struck down a 1990 voter initiative that criminalized possession of any amount of marijuana.

Rejecting the state's argument that earlier decisions did not legalize marijuana possession in the home, the court ruled the earlier decisions actually defined a constitutional limitation to the government's ability to prohibit marijuana possession.

Alaska's AG, Gregg Renkes, is of course appealing the ruling saying it will be virtually impossible to prosecute growers without a witness to testify to the size of the grow. In retaliation he intends to ask the feds, in the person of the US Attorney's office, to be more aggressive in busting marijuana growers, as the court's ruling does not affect federal cases. Of course he seems to be forgetting the upcoming SCOTUS review of Raich v. Ashcroft may change all that within a few months.

Me, I'm thinking it's way past time to visit my brother in Anchorage.