https://www.alaskadispatch.com/articl...-eyebrows-aclu

The American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska wants to know more about a misdemeanor charge brought against a Point Lay woman for possessing a tiny amount of marijuana.

Despite a 2006 state law that sought to recriminalize small amounts of marijuana possession, the courts have not decided the issue, said Jeffery Mittman, the group's executive director.

It's still unkown whether people can legally possess less than one ounce for home use in Alaska, he said.

The charge against Eva Anniskett, 23, brought by North Slope Borough Police, could be what the ACLU needs to "help start resolving issues that have been left unresolved by the Alaska Supreme Court," said Mittman.

Anniskett will likely have to be prosecuted before that happens.

After getting a tip on March 28, North Slope Borough police arrived at Anniskett's house and "obtained consent to search her home," according to a press release from the department.

Police found 1 gram of marijuana, or .035 ounces, with an estimated street value of about $200.

They forwarded a charge of sixth-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance to the district attorney's office in Barrow, a class B misdemeanor. The charge could result in up to a $2,000 fine and a 90-day jail sentence, the police statement said.

Borough police Lt. Darryl Holman could not be immediately reached for comment early Friday.

With drugs and alcohol blamed for too many deaths and other problems in the region, the North Slope Borough has pushed hard against substance abuse, even launching a "War on Drugs" campaign in recent years.

Anniskett has been in trouble with drugs and alcohol before. She pled guilty in 2010 to possessing more than an ounce of a controlled substance, with intent to sell, according to court records. In 2008, she pled guilty to importing a small amount of alcohol into a dry area. Point Lay residents voted to become a dry village under the state's local option law.

The state's battle over small amounts of marijuana possession goes back decades.

The Alaska Supreme Court ruled in 1975 in Ravin v. Alaska that privacy rights allowed people to legally possess small amounts of marijuana for home use. Eventually, the state Legislature defined small amounts as less than 1 ounce. People could legally possess that amount unless there was intent to distribute, according to a past news account.

The issue got really hazy in 2006.

The Alaska Legislature, citing increased potency in today's dope, passed a law prohibiting possession of less than one ounce, said Bill McAllister, the state's Department of Law spokesman.

ACLU challenged the amended law in court, saying it was unconstitutional in light of the Ravin decision, though ACLU's two plaintiffs had not been prosecuted under the new law.

The ACLU won in Superior Court. But in 2009, the Supreme Court threw out the lower court's ruling and did not offer a decision because no one had been prosecuted under the law.

"We conclude that any challenge to the statute must await an actual prosecution," read the Supreme Court's 3-2 opinion, written by Justice Warren Matthews.

In recent years, there's been a stand-off on the issue, said Mittman.

Neither Mittman nor McAllister know of anyone who's been prosecuted by the state for possessing small amounts.

Mittman said he'll be watching the outcome of the charge against Anniskett.

The borough police statement gives no indication she was suspected of selling her marijuana.

"The ACLU is certainly very interested in speaking with Miss Anniskett," Mittman said. "We'll see if this is an appropriate vehicle to reassert what all Alaskans believe and value, which is that the right to privacy is very important to us."



Where the fuck do these people come up with thier street values. There is no being shady in this situation with "weighing the pots, wet bud, etc" They state they found 1 gram with an approx street value of $200. That is ludicrous!!! That must be the best buds on the earth if going for $200/g.

[bass ackwards]

$200/g, that's ten times as much as it is here on the shores of Lake Michigan.

[pearlemae]

If I lived on the North Slope I'd be smoking weed too. It's freaking dark for 4 months of the year and it's colder than you can imagine cold to be.
In the summer it never gets dark which is o.k. but the mosquitos will eat your ass alive. Still all in all I had a great two years in Fairbanks,loved the fishing. and weed was 75 an eighth in 1987, grown in Fairbanks.

[kmk420kali]

My guess is that the 200 was suppose to be a 20, simple typo-- If not, I'm packing up a big bag, and going selling in Alaska!! lol

[Mt Toaker]

I think 200 was a typo and supposed to be 20 . . . Either way, 1g is not worth the states time and money trying to prosecute this woman. . . This is why paying taxes should be optional.

[Sinse_Farmer]

$200/g, eh? Somebody's got a heady stash!!! lol....

(to those who said "typo," that's what it had to be....)

McJeebus, those poor people should get govt care packages of heroin, coke and meth and 100 fresh rigs a month just for living there

[ShroomDr]

i bet the $200 a gram was accurate. They pay crazy amounts for a 1/5 of booze in those 'dry communities' too.

[supermanlives]

i need to bring a few lbs next time i visit. at 200 a gram i could make a killing. i know like someone said booze goes for alot in dry areas so why not weed . hmmmm?

[paladin420]

Damn I wish I could link to that olde by Johny Horton.. North to Alaska, North the rush is on..