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of Criminam Appeals agreed. Citing State v. Carus, supra, and
People v. McCabe, supra, the court concluded that "marihuana is
not a narcotic drug.., and the triat court's instructions to
that effect are error." _d., at 297.
The California Court of AppeaRs, in People v. Ruiz, 49
CoA. 2d 730 (1975), herod 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 vioJations, violated the ban against
cruel and unusual punishments.
Finally, the Supreme Court of Alaska held, in Ravin v.
State, 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
presentmy used in the United States today,
does not constitute a public health problem
of any significant dimensions° Jt is, for
instance, far more innocuous in terms of
physiological and social damage than a_cohoJ
or tobacco, o
It appears that effects of marijuana on the
individual are not sedous enough to justify
widespread concern at least as compared with
the far more dangerous effects of a_cohoL
barbiturates and amphetamines. Moreover, the
current patterns of use in the United States
are not such as wou_d warrant concern that in
the future consumption patterns are JJkely to
change...
Thus we concJude 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
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