Dazed and Confused

Police in Alaska don't know quite how to deal with last week's decision by the state Court of Appeals declaring it every Alaskan's right to possess up to four ounces of pot in his home. Overturning the conviction of a North Pole man, David S. Noy, who was caught with a few plants, the court said a 1990 voter initiative that ostensibly recriminalized private marijuana possession was invalid because it contradicted a 1975 Alaska Supreme Court ruling.

Anchorage police told the Anchorage Daily News they still planned to refer cases covered by the decision for prosecution. State police said they would not.

"Until things change, the court of appeals ruling is the law," said Noy's attorney. "When we cease to recognize the rule of law in this country, then we have some serious problems."