Alaska House Fails To Pass Marijuana-Meth Bill

[fatal]

By The Associated Press
Source: Associated Press

Juneau, Alaska -- The Alaska House dealt a setback on Wednesday to Gov. Frank Murkowski's efforts to recriminalize marijuana.
The House voted 19-21 against a compromise measure that linked the governor's Marijuana bill with a measure that aims to curb the manufacture of methampethamine.

The two measures were merged earlier this session in the Senate Finance Committee, however, the House last month failed to agree with the Senate's changes. As a result, a conference committee was formed to etch out a compromise.
But House members voting against the measure said the compromise did not answer their concerns. While support was strong for the anti-methamphetamine provisions, they said the governor's attempt to recriminalize Marijuana needed a thorough vetting in the House, something that was denied by the Senate's action to merge the bills.
Others voiced concern that the measure would be used to overturn the 31-year-old state Supreme Court decision which allows for the possession of small amounts of Marijuana in the home. They said the bill would circumvent Alaskans' constitutional right to privacy.
A second conference committee will be appointed to work out the differences between the House and Senate.
Source: Associated Press (Wire)
Published: April 19, 2006
Copyright: 2006 Associated Press