An attempt to roll back Alaska's long-standing policy of marijuana decriminalization has reached the state's Supreme Court, the Anchorage Daily News reported March 21.

The Alaska Supreme Court ruled in 1975 that possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use was legal under the state constitution and its privacy protections. At the time, the court said the state had failed to prove that personal use of marijuana threatened public health.

Two years ago, however, the state legislature passed a law recriminalizing personal at-home use of marijuana. The law was struck down by a lower court, which cited the 1975 ruling, but that decision was appealed to the Supreme Court by the Alaskan state government.

Alaska special assistant attorney general Dean Guaneli argued that the state now has more evidence on the dangers of marijuana than it did in 1975. "It's a different kind of drug, it's a different era and the Legislature considered all that and reached its decision," said Guaneli, who said that marijuana is now more potent.

But American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska staff attorney Adam Wolf said, "Nothing relevant has changed since 1975."