Police Must Now Suspect That More Than Four Ounces Of Marijuana Is Involved
Anchorage, Alaska: Alaskan courts continue to observe that the right of privacy for adults also includes possession up to 4 ounces of marijuana. According to the Associated Press police cannot execute a search warrant in a person’s home for possession of less than 4 ounces of marijuana, the Alaska Court of Appeals ruled last Friday.
The court ruled in the case of Leo Richardson Crocker, Jr., who was charged with marijuana-related offenses after police, acting on a tip, searched his home and found marijuana and growing equipment. The opinion is the latest in a series of decisions that have carved out protections for possessing marijuana in an Alaskan home.
The state Supreme Court in 1975 ruled that an adult’s rights to limited marijuana possession was protected under the state constitution’s privacy provisions. Last year, the Appeals Court defined that limit as 4 ounces. Further, the Appeals Court also struck down a 1990 voter initiative that criminalized possession of any amount of marijuana.
You can read the Alaska Appeals Court opinion at:
www.state.ak.us/courts/ops/ap-1949.pdf