norml22 - Page 9
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C.A.2d 730 (1975) s held that a provision of the Health and Safety
Code precluding parole consideration for five years for a person
convicted of possession of marijuana, who had previously been
convicted twice of narcotics violations, violated the ban against
cruel and unusual punishments.
Finally, the Supreme Court of Alaska held, in Rav/dl___
Sta___ 537 P.2d 494 (1975), that the right of privacy protects
the personal use of marijuana in the home_ After reviewing the
testimony of expert witnesses present at the hearing at the trial
court and numerous studies and scientific reports on the effects
of marijuana, the court concluded:
It appears that the use of marijuana as it is
presently used in the United States today,
does not constitute a public health problem
of any significant dimensions° It is, for
instance, far more innocuous in terms of
physiological and social damage than alcohol
or tobacco_
It appears that effects of marijuana on the
individual are not serious enough to justify
widespread concern at least as compared with
the far more dangerous effects of alcohol;
barbiturates and amphetamines_ Moreover, the
current patterns of use in the United States
are not such as would warrant concern that in
the future consumption patterns are likely to
change _ . .
Thus we conclude that no adequate
justification for the state's intrusion into
the citizen's right to privacy by its
prohibition of possession of marijuana by an
adult for personal consumption in the home
has been shown. The privacy of the
individual's home cannot be breached absent a
persuasive showing of a close and substantial
relationship of the intrusion to a legitimate
governmental interest. Here_ scientific
doubts will not suffice. The state must
demonstrate a need based on proof that the
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