Right's are somewhat "flippant" in this nation because of Federal overreach [admittedly my opinion.] To example, nearly 40 years ago, the Alaska supreme court ruled that an adult’s right to use and possess a small amount of pot for personal use was protected under the Alaska constitution’s right to privacy. The Feds came in and told us that /our/ courts opinion of what was a "right" was meaningless to them. Then they applied the thumbscrews and extorted us to change the Alaska Constitution (which ratified personal privacy in owning small amounts of pot.)
So sure, abortion and marriage are considered "rights" by the supreme courts rulings at the moment, but that doesn't mean those /opinions/ won't change. It also means that abortion and marriage are merely "legal rights."
Recriminalization of pot in Alaska occurred because the voters of Alaska voted for it - not because of "the feds".
Yeah because the Feds extorted us dude. We had to make a choice as a state, figure out how to fund all the ******* snow removal [aka pay out of our pockets for snow removal and paving] or make pot illegal. This isn't the lower 48, if our roads don't get plowed, we legit can't leave our houses so it's not like it's something we can go without. Basically folks voted with their pocketbooks, against. We also just legalized it again, by vote, massively.
Alaskan's by and large didn't /want/ to criminalize it the first time, the Feds /forced/ us to vote "their way" on it while "claiming" it was what we wanted. (See my last post) That's yet another major problem with the Feds deciding our "legal rights" for us.
Ravin v. State was in 1982. Recriminalization occurred by voter referendum in 1990.
Are you claiming that the Federal government forced or coerced 54% of Alaskans to vote to recriminalize?
Ravin vs State was in 1975 dude... And there was /more/ before that ruling.
The first Alaska Supreme Court decision interpreting the privacy clause of the Alaska Constitution, added by voter initiative in 1972, upheld the constitutional right of individuals to use marijuana in their homes. Justice Rabinowitz, writing for the court, stated that residents of Alaska "have a basic right to privacy in their homes under Alaska’s Constitution” and that "would encompass the possession and ingestion of substances such as marijuana in a purely personal, non-commercial
context..."
Then we had Ravin in 1975: “[W]e conclude that citizens of the State of Alaska have a basic right to privacy in their homes under Alaska’s constitution,” the Court ruled in
Ravin. “This right to privacy would encompass the possession and ingestion of substances such as marijuana in a purely personal, non-commercial context in the home unless the state can meet its substantial burden and show that proscription of possession of marijuana in the home is supportable by achievement of a legitimate state interest.”
Then we had a "revisit" of a sort; Noy vs State in 2003, where the court of appeals ruled yet again in favor of personal possession, ruling:
"To make AS 11.71.060(a)(1) consistent with article I, section 22 of the Alaska Constitution as interpreted in Ravin, we must limit the scope of the statute. As currently written, the statute prohibits possession of any amount of marijuana. But with regard to possession of marijuana by adults in their home for personal use, AS 11.71.060(a)(1) must be interpreted to prohibit only the possession of four ounces or more of marijuana."
And of course in 2014 we immediately decriminalized, by vote.
You seem to be under the impression that the Feds making it criminal is a magical wand or something... It ain't. It has /always/ been legal to have and smoke pot in our homes up here, from time immemorial, and the Feds be ******* damned... Folks up here never stopped smoking weed even after the feds made us criminalize in 1992. Sure, the /feds/ came up here occasionally to "enforce" their bullshit, but Alaska police only arrested sellers and growers, gang members, and that kind of stuff. Folks smoking a little pot in their houses were left alone even when found, unless there was another crime committed (then they might tack that on just to get the criminals off the streets longer.) NO ONE in Alaska has /ever/ been convicted of possession of small amounts of pot inside their own home - because that's legal up here, always has been, always will be.
Do you know who the pot smokers in Alaska are? A lot of them are older vets who use it to get over their pain and trauma. That's a big part of why we voted to decriminalize, not because of liberal ideals of stopping systemic racism, or because we're a bunch of pot heads, but because our soldiers wanted it. We owe them our lives... the whole ******* world does. They want to get stoned off a natural product, who the **** are we to say no to them? To tell them /we/ know better what /they/ find helps them? They've served in Nazi Germany, in Japan, and the Middle East, they've faced guns, tanks, and bombs, and yet we think we're "protecting them" by criminalizing their pot? Give me a ******* break...
Life isn't so black and white as many folks like to think. This is why I say that folks outside the city/state are clueless and shouldn't be using Fed law to enforce their bullshit. I've lived here my entire life so I have a hell of a lot better idea what's good for my state than some yahoo in DC (or any other state) who's never set foot up here. I know better for my state than some idiot who's "visited" and went on a tour to Denali... Cities and states should be deciding on this kind of "rights", not distant Feds, not career politicians in Washington looking for votes, not even the crazy ass 9th circuit (though they'd likely defend pot, they could **** up a wet dream on damn near everything else.)
Bonus Fact for everyone: Do you actually know the history of why the Feds made pot illegal? I almost hate to say it with the way liberals have behaved this past couple years, but they're actually right this time, it's a legit racist law that's stayed on the books somehow all these years. It was created to demonize and stem the flow of Mexican immigrants, no joke.
