Drugs
The DEA adds four synthetic cannabinoids to its banned list
Why do people smoke fake marijuana — sometimes called K2 or spice — versus the real and safer McCoy served up from mother nature? To pass employers’ urine drug tests? To avoid being detected as easily as cops can detect marijuana’s unique stink when smoked?...
Jimmy Carter’s first drug czar on the shift from treating to criminalizing drugs
Thanks to my colleague who posted this fascinating 2000 interview with Jimmy Carter’s first drug czar, Peter Bourne, who claims: – With Reagan came a major federal law shift — supported by people at the DEA — from heavily focusing on treatment for illegal drugs...
When police do not arrest at a HempFest – That future is now in Washington state
Imagine a hemp festival where the music is playing, many in the crowd are smoking marijuana, the police are not interfering with their marijuana enjoyment, and the police are even handing out free bags of munchies (albeit with a label inviting a visit to a...
Obama pays lipservice about the injustice of the drug war. What will he deliver?
Why has Barack Obama, through Attorney General Holder, waited over four years after he was first elected to admit as much as Holder did yesterday (verbatim here, at the ABA conference) (which was not enough of an admission, as it stands) about the injustice of the...
Winning a jury acquittal over eight pounds of marijuana in the defendant’s rear carseat
Yesterday, a jury acquitted my client of possessing with intent to distribute eight pounds of marijuana found in the backseat of his car, after we had lost our suppression hearing and were without a successful way to create doubt that this was anything other than...
What happens to federal student financial aid after a drug conviction?
“What happens to federal student financial aid after a drug conviction?” That is a concern I often hear. Here is what I have to share: 20 U.S. Code § 1091 provides for temporary or permanent loss (depending on the circumstances) of federal student financial aid...
Tenth Circuit: Parties are permitted to strike jurors for their drug reform views
Image from public domain. Earlier this month, the Tenth Circuit gave the green light for parties to strike jurors for their drug reform views in criminal cases. U.S. v. Judah Prince, ___ F.3d ___ (10th Cir., Aug. 5, 2011). Prince was convicted for marijuana cultivation...
Government wastes resources outlawing K2 / Spice
Image from public domain. LSD once was lawful earlier in the Sixties. Now it is not. K2/Spice remains lawful in the majority of states, but Virginia just added itself today to the list of states outlawing it. D.C. police have threatened crackdowns on K2/Spice stores. Although LSD...
The risk of a drug arrest and search even when the cops don’t see what is being transferred hand-to-hand
This week, Virginia’s intermediate appellate court detailed the totality of circumstances to consider in determining whether probable cause exists to arrest and search for drugs, after witnessing a hand-to-hand transaction. Powell v. Virginia, ___ Va. App. ___ (Nov. 3, 2010). The court’s reasons for finding probable cause to search Powell are...
Virginia marijuana defendants – Fairfax criminal lawyer on 251
Virginia marijuana defendants in some Virginia District courtrooms constitute a parade of unrepresented people on their first court date. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that word has gotten out that if a marijuana possession defendant has no relevant prior convictions, s/he can save...