Alaska marijuana citation data 2011-2014

Ms. Anderson;
I am in receipt of your request for 'a copy of all data related to citations for marijuana possession on the state and local levels. I am specifically seeking records from January 2011 through December 2014.

Please be advised that Alaska law enforcement does not issue citations for possession of marijuana during the time frame you are requesting. All charges of possession of marijuana are included in the person's criminal history record. Specific information about persons charged criminally for possession of marijuana is confidential under AS 12.62.160 and exempt from disclosure under AS 40.25.

However, the Department of Public Safety does have this information in summary form, via our Uniform Crime Report. You may view the number of people and age, sex and race of individuals arrested for possession or sale/manufacturing of marijuana by viewing our "Crime In Alaska" reports, starting around page 65 of each year's report. These reports give statewide totals as well as totals for each reporting agency. You will find these reports at: http://dps.alaska.gov/Statewide/UCR.aspx. Please note, summary Uniform Crime Report information is not yet available for calendar year 2014. We expect this information to be available mid-summer, 2015.

Please let me know if you have any further questions,

Kathryn Monfreda
Chief, Criminal Records and Identification Bureau
CJIS Systems Officer
Alaska Department of Public Safety
Phone: (907) 269-5581
Fax: (907) 269-0363

For Evan Anderson

I am in receipt of your request for "a copy of all data related to citations for marijuana possession ..." from January 2011 through December 2014. I am writing to find out what "data" you are wanting so that we can be responsive to your request. The request as you made it is so broad and unspecific that it presents a huge expense and could miss what you were wanting.

1. Prior to February 24, 2015, possession of marijuana was a criminal offense. An offense was charged on a criminal complaint or indictment. If you are thinking a citation is like the piece of paper on officer issues for a minor violation, then there were no "citations" issued for marijuana possession. If you are using the term citation to mean a referral of charges, read below.

2. Alaska does not have a statute called "marijuana possession." In Alaska statutes, controlled substances are classified to lists based on the potential harmful effects of the compounds. Criminal offenses are for "Misconduct involving controlled substances" in various "degrees" based on which list the controlled substance is on and what activity is being done with the controlled substance. There are three separate degrees of "Misconduct Involving Controlled Substances" that may involve marijuana. The specific degree depends on if there was possession for manufacture, possession to sell, possession for sale to minors, possession within a school area, possession of large quantities, or possession in small quantities. To find out if marijuana was involved would require an analysis of the documents in each case.

3. Your request for "all data" would appear to include the reports and documents related to each case. Research would necessarily include a review of each Misconduct Involving Controlled Substances case that could involve the list upon which marijuana is listed. The individual documents would be redacted to protect privacy information and prepared for delivery. Your request would create research costs of several thousands of dollars. Research costs are paid by the requestor. Those costs will not be waived. We won't start that research until we confirm you will pay for it.

4. If your concept of "data" is just the numbers of cases, a database report can provide an approximation of the cases that involve marijuana.

Please restate your request so that we can clearly know what you want and meet your expectations.

Gary Lee
Criminal Justice Planner
Alaska Department of Public Safety
907-269-5092