Zappiste: Déjà Vu ! Le cannabis a déjà été légal/dépénalisé en 1975 en Alaska...

http://journalmetro.com/monde/441861/alaska-vote-a-venir-sur-le-cannabis...

04/02/2014 Mise à jour: 4 février 2014 | 16:23

Alaska: vote à venir sur le cannabis récréatif

Par Rédaction The Associated Press

ANCHORAGE, États-Unis – Les électeurs de l’Alaska se prononceront cet été sur la légalisation de la consommation libre de marijuana.

La direction des élections de l’État a confirmé dans un courriel à l’Associated Press, mardi, qu’une initiative citoyenne avait rencontré toutes les exigences requises pour que la question figure sur le bulletin de vote du 19 août. Plus de 31 500 signatures ont ainsi été authentifiées.

L’an dernier, les électeurs des États du Colorado et de Washington ont été les premiers aux États-Unis à voter en faveur de la légalisation du cannabis pour un usage récréatif. La mesure qui sera proposée aux résidants de l’Alaska est semblable à celle qui a été soumise aux électeurs du Colorado.

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ALASKA CANNABIS

In Alaska, cannabis was decidedly legal (under state, but not federal, law) for in-home, personal use under the Ravin v. State ruling of 1975. This ruling allowed up to two ounces (57 g) of cannabis and cultivation of fewer than 25 plants for these purposes.

A 1991 voter ballot initiative recriminalized marijuana possession, but when that law was eventually challenged in 2004, the Alaska courts upheld the Ravin ruling, saying the popular vote could not trump the state constitution. In response to former Governor Frank Murkowski's successive attempt to re-criminalize cannabis, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the state.

On July 17, 2006, Superior Court Judge Patricia Collins awarded the Case Summary judgment to the ACLU. In her ruling, she said "No specific argument has been advanced in this case that possession of more than 1 ounce (28 g) of cannabis, even within the privacy of the home, is constitutionally protected conduct under Ravin or that any plaintiff or ACLU of Alaska member actually possesses more than 1 ounce (28 g) of cannabis in their homes." This does not mean that the legal possession threshold has been reduced to one ounce, as this was a mere case summary review filed by the ACLU, not a full case.

Reinforcing Ravin, Collins wrote "A lower court cannot reverse the State Supreme Court's 1975 decision in Ravin v. State" and "Unless and until the Supreme Court directs otherwise, Ravin is the law in this state and this court is duty bound to follow that law". The law regarding possession of cannabis has not changed in Alaska, and the Supreme Court has declined to review the case, therefore the law still stands at 4 ounces (113 g).[20]

However, federal prosecutions under the CSA can be brought in Federal Court, and federal courts applying federal law are not bound by state court precedent. As such, federal courts in Alaska will recognize that possession of any quantity of marijuana remains illegal in Alaska under federal law.