Juneau -- The Alaska Senate Thursday voted 15 to 5 to approve Senate Bill 94, legislation that makes several changes to the new medical marijuana law that became effective on March 4 of this year.

"The challenge of this legislation is meshing the 1998 initiative with the earlier 1990 initiative in which voters approved a general recriminalization of marijuana," stated Senator Loren Leman (R-Anchorage), sponsor of SB 94. "As a result of the election, we now have two classes of marijuana in Alaska: there is marijuana used for medical reasons, which is legal under some circumstances. And there is marijuana used for other purposes, which remains illegal. The dilemma for law enforcement is, how do you tell the difference?"

The Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police has stated that "the current law, as written, provides little guidance for law enforcement or the courts." The Chiefs have further stated that with the changes proposed in SB 94, "the law will be better understood and enforceable." Several other groups and agencies have also supported changes to the marijuana law. They include the Anchorage Assembly, the Anchorage Police Department, the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Law, the Department of Health and Social Services, and the Legislative Committee of the Alaska State Advisory Board on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse.

To protect patients using marijuana from accidental arrest or detention by police, SB 94 requires patients and their caregivers to register with the Department of Health and Social Services. The legislation also closes several loopholes in the marijuana initiative that would have allowed the drug to be legally used and distributed even for non-medical purposes.

"This legislation is the end-product of more than two months of hard work and consensus-building," said Leman. "It will allow the medical marijuana program to work as intended and as represented."

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= Loren Leman, 60 K