Ravin v. State is a 1975 decision by the Alaska Supreme Court that legalized possession of small amounts of cannabis (four ounces) in the state. It was brought about by Irwin Ravin, an attorney who deliberately got arrested in Anchorage for refusing to sign a traffic ticket while in possession of marijuana in order to challenge the existing law. Ravin felt that the case was more about privacy, saying
"Marijuana has never been an issue for me. The fight was always for privacy, our territory and now state has traditionally been the home of people who prize their individuality and who have chosen to achieve a measure of control over their own lifestyles which is now virtually unattainable in many of our sister states."
The court ruled:[2]
| “ | ...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, mere scientific doubts will not suffice. The state must demonstrate a need based on proof that the public health or welfare will in fact suffer if the controls are not applied. | ” |
Alaskan voters approved a ballot initiative recriminalizing marijuana possession in 1990, but in Noy v. State, the Alaska Court of Appeals held that ballot iniatives are subject to the same constitutional limitations as legislative enactments, and thus the portion of the amended statutes criminalizing possession of less than four ounces of marijuana in the home was unconstitutional.[3] In June 2006, the Alaska Legislature amended the law to prohibit the possession of less than one ounce of marijuana and to make possession of more than one ounce of marijuana a class A misdemeanor.[4] As of November 2009, Alaskan courts have not considered the constitutionality of this statute. Mr Ravin Died in April 2010.[5]