By MATT VOLZ
The Associated Press
JUNEAU, Alaska - Attorneys for a civil liberties group asked a judge to strike down a new state law criminalizing small amounts of marijuana, saying it goes against 30 years of right-to-privacy decisions.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska presented its argument Wednesday to Juneau Superior Court Judge Patricia Collins, whose courtroom is the first stop in the constitutional challenge to the new law tightening Alaska’s liberal marijuana policy.
Before the law took effect in June, it had been legal to possess up to 4 ounces (113 grams) of the drug under state court rulings dating back to the 1970s.
The ACLU wants Collins to issue an injunction blocking the new law while the case is being decided.
The attorney general’s office has asked the judge to dismiss the case.
Collins said she expects to issue a written order on those motions by Monday.
Chief Assistant Attorney General Dean Guaneli, arguing in favor of the new law, said the measure includes findings by the state legislature on the dangers of marijuana that were not considered when the court legalized possession of small amounts of the drug for personal use in the home.
Guaneli said much has changed over the last 30 years, including the potency of marijuana, which the legislative findings document
“The facts have changed. The facts involving marijuana are different now,” Guaneli said.
The ACLU has argued that many of the findings included in the bill are disputed, and the legislature did not consider other evidence to include in its findings.
“The state has certainly made a lot of assertions, and the assertions they have made are not backed up by credible scientific evidence,” said ACLU attorney Jason Brandeis.
In 1975, the Alaska Supreme Court decided that the right to privacy in the home took precedence over possession of small amounts of marijuana. Later court decisions set the legal limit a person can possess in the home at 4 ounces (113 grams).
The new law makes marijuana possession of 4 ounces (113 grams) or more a felony. Possession of 1 to 4 ounces (28 to 113 grams) is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail; less than 1 ounce (28 grams) is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail.
The new law does not affect medical marijuana patients who are on the state’s registry.