ACLU Drug Law Reform Project: Press Release / Summary: ACLU of Alaska v. State of Alaska 
CANNANNEW REPORT

JULY 11, 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: media@aclu.org ACLU Wins Multi-Year Battle to Protect Alaska Residents From Drug War Excesses JUNEAU — In a landmark ruling, an Alaska state court judge has upheld adults’ right to possess and use small amounts of marijuana within their homes. The American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the law, said the ruling confirmed that the state constitution protects adults who use and possess marijuana in their homes from police surveillance, searches, arrest and prosecution. “The drug war has wreaked havoc on the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution, but fortunately many state constitutions still shield individuals from drug war excess,” said Allen Hopper, an attorney with the ACLU Drug Law Reform Project. “This ruling is incredibly significant from a national perspective, because there are a number of states with similar privacy rights in their constitutions that may afford protections to adult marijuana users.” With the court’s ruling, Alaska remains the only state in the nation in which adults are legally free to possess and use small amounts of marijuana within their homes. “The state of Alaska has charted a different course from that of the federal government’s failed policy on marijuana,” said Michael MacLeod-Ball, Executive Director of the ACLU of Alaska. “This ruling affirms Alaska’s commitment to fundamental privacy rights over reefer madness.” The ACLU filed suit against the State of Alaska after it passed a law earlier this year that would have re-criminalized adult use and possession of small amounts of marijuana within the home. Since 1975, the Alaska Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that the state constitution’s privacy provisions protect adults’ possession of small amounts of marijuana in the home, and the state court’s ruling relied in part on those decisions. A similar law was proposed in 2005 by Governor Frank Murkowski,…

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Source : ACLU Drug Law Reform Project: Press Release / Summary: ACLU of Alaska v. State of Alaska 

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