Alaska's pot law invalid, lawyer claims

[Judi Lynn]

Alaska's pot law invalid, lawyer claims
CONSTITUTION: Supreme Court ruling trumps 1990 ban, he argues.


The Associated Press

(Published: July 21, 2003)
FAIRBANKS -- The Alaska Court of Appeals is considering a case that could set precedent in the 1975 Alaska Supreme Court ruling protecting marijuana possession for personal use in the home.

A lawyer for a North Pole man convicted in 2001 of possessing marijuana in his home has appealed the conviction based on a claim that a nearly three-decade-old Alaska Supreme Court decision declaring personal pot possession a state constitutional right is still the law.

The Court of Appeals' decision will represent the first time a precedent-setting court decides whether the Supreme Court ruling still protects marijuana possession for personal use in the home despite a 1990 voter initiative that criminalized possession of any amount of the drug in any location, said Bill Satterberg, the defense attorney who submitted the appeal.

Satterberg's argument is based on the assertion that voters did not have authority to cancel a state constitutional right when they passed the initiative, making the Supreme Court's decision still valid. The case before the Alaska Court of Appeals, Satterberg said, could produce the decision that clarifies the issue. (snip/...)

http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/3498651p-3529892c.html

[Ponderer]

1. Question: How did the cops catch a man at the North Pole

anyways?

[Aaron]

3. Rudolph's nose is really a drug detection device?

Corny, I know. It's why I'm not in standup.

[Submariner]

4. North Pole is a town near Fairbanks

eom

[izzie]

5. How did they get into his home to know what he was doing?

Is North Pole the place that has the last set of lights until you reach Valdez? I blame all those new laws on the time the Church came in and took over that state.

[northofdenali]

10. Wasn't hard. Followed him from the Santa Claus House...............

I have a friend who is Satterburg's paralegal - she says he'll take it all the way.

[Aaron]

2. Interesting. I wonder if this takes pressure off of some of the MM states

like mine where Ashcroft keeps sending the DEA to try to enforce federal drug laws against the sick and the dying. If Alaska has legal marijuana for all people then it would seem to me he'd have a larger concern on his hands.

Meanwhile I will be happy for the people of Alaska who will be rid of laws that leech public resources while providing minimal gain if any in the areas of public safety. I will also be happy to see an increase of liberty

[izzie]

6. Frankly who care what people do as long as this......

They do not get into a 5000lb car while they are doing it and turn it towards me. We have enough trouble with 85 year olds doing that.

[R Hickey]

7. Pot does'nt affect driving the way booze, cell phones or old age does.

If a FAIR test were to be made, comparing the driving ability of drunks, octaginarians, cell phone users, cigarette smokers, perscription drug takers, fatigued people, people eating, reading maps, drinking coffee or having sex while driving... comparing those people along with pot-smokers, verses 'non-distracted drivers'... the results would show that pot-smokers drive fairly safely.

Under some circumstances, such as when pot is combined with other drugs or distractions, like perhaps when you're driving 80 in a 55 down a winding road at night, thru a rainstorm, and a hot ash drops off the end a poorly rolled joint, starting a fire in your crotch, and you try to put it out by pouring what's left of your half-pint of Porta-Rican 151 Rum down there, which then makes the burning ember go woosh...and then some iternerant bozo comes flying thru your windshield and gets stuck upside down, and starts nagging you, like some back-seat driver, demanding for you to go out of your way and take him to the hospital... well, sometimes pot may impair judgement or driving safety... but by itself, I don't think it effects driving much.

[qandnotq]

8. WRONG

drive stoned and you are a lethal weapon. don't kid yourself. but, that's a very interesting study on the safety of stoned drivers you conducted in your head and completely hallucinated answers for.

[shanti]

9. many ganja smokers

feel that they drive better when high because they're more "careful" and deliberate. i've heard that over the years. you definitely can't say that when you've been drinking.

in any event, i don't condone driving while inebriated.

[qandnotq]

13. yeah, and many drunk drivers don't feel impaired either

being stoned impairs your motor reflexes, coordination, and concentration. yes, you may be less likely to run into a telephone pole stoned than drunk because you are being 'careful'. but what happens though when you find yourself in a dangerous situation? say, a car pulls in front of you suddenly. you can't avoid that by being 'careful'. and then your impaired reflexes, coordination, and concentration can kill.

[Bandit]

12. And you know this how?

Pot is Nowhere near what alchohol is when it comes to being unable to operate anything. Pot is so subtle that most new users swear it doesn't effect them.

[qandnotq]

14. from personal experience

i'm ashamed to admit. also, from having a good friend die from driving while high.

also, from doing research. most people would also swear that one glass of beer does not affect them at all. it does; it's very easy to pick up in a controlled test. same with pot. being unaware of the effect does not mean it isn't there.

[Ediacara]

17. Pot is not awful

but it's not great while driving either.

Smoking pot before driving is safer than drinking before driving or being senile while driving, but probably less safe than talking on the cel phone while driving.

[canuck]

18. HO HOO HA HA HA PMSL

thanks man I needed a laugh.

roflmao!

[Bandit]

11. I always thought the Supreme Court was the last court things went to

How can an appeals court overturn a Supreme Court ruling? I don't get it. What does Supreme Court mean? It is either Supreme or it isn't.

[northofdenali]

16. Bandit, the State Supreme Court ruled that pot was legal -

then, under fundie pressure, a ballot initiative passed after the Supreme Court ruling, once again criminalizing possession. Now, a Superior Court judge threw out the ballot initiative as unconstitutional based on the State constitution, and it'll go to the Appeals Court.

Weird state. I love it. Politics is fun here!!!

[metisnation]

15. driving while impaired

is plain stupid...but this is about having it in your own home. What you or your neighbor does behind their closed doors is their buisness! As long as it does not infringe on the rights of others who cares!