House OKs Marijuana Restrictions

A bill that restricts the medical marijuana law voters adopted last year passed the Alaska House on Monday.

The bill would require patients who want to use medical marijuana to register with the state, and it sets the maximum amount a patient can legally possess at one ounce or six plants. The initiative voters approved set up an optional registry that patients could sign if they wanted an ID card to ward off arrests.

Bill sponsor Sen. Loren Leman, R-Anchorage, said it draws a bright line for police so that they can enforce the law against recreational use of marijuana without harassing people who have a valid reason to use the drug.

Organizers of last year's marijuana campaign initially said the bill practically killed the new law. But Leman conceded to a series of amendments, and that quieted arguments that he was trying to overturn the will of the people.

The bill passed 30-9 and now goes back to the Senate for approval of the changes the House made.

"The bottom line is it will work for Alaskan patients," David Finkelstein said Monday. Finkelstein heads Alaskans for Medical Rights, the group that campaigned for the measure. He said he still doesn't think the bill was necessary. Some patients, he said, will refuse to register. For them, the law will offer no protection against prosecution.

Finkelstein said he plans to urge patients who are eligible to use medical marijuana to register. The confidential list will be kept by the Department of Health and Social Services, which he said has an excellent record at protecting patient privacy. The way the bill reads now, police can use the registry only to confirm whether a person who shows a medical marijuana ID card or says they have one is indeed on the list.

The governor's spokesman, Bob King, said the bill "seems to strike the right balance" between the needs of law enforcement and the intentions of the voter initiative.

House members for and against medical marijuana said they were uncomfortable with the bill. Rep. Con Bunde, R-Anchorage, said he thought it was odd for the state to encourage people to take comfort in the medical use of marijuana when all marijuana use remains illegal in federal law.

Rep. Eric Croft, D-Anchorage, said the bill was aimed too much at helping out the state agencies that administer and enforce the law and lost sight of the patients the initiative was designed to help. Both he and Bunde voted against Senate Bill 94.

Copyright 1999 The Anchorage Daily News

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