Marijuana

Published on: May 24, 2012

Should Maryland Adopt Blood Marijuana Limits For DWI?

We have all heard of the term drunk driving, as DUI is one of the most common crimes in Maryland. In fact, DUI is one of the most common crimes in the entire country, as police make nearly 1.5 million DUI arrests per year in America. But what about drugged driving? Driving while under the influence of a drug such as marijuana is technically illegal in Maryland, but under Maryland law there are no definitive drug testing procedures for DUI. Under Maryland law you can be convicted of DWI with a blood alcohol concentration of .07 to .08, and for DUI with a blood alcohol concentration over .08. While these standardized numbers are somewhat arbitrary because everyone feels the effects of alcohol in different ways, the standardized numbers do provide at least the image of consistency and uniformity in DUI prosecutions. On the other hand, Maryland law does not indicate specific levels of drug concentration in the blood that would define driving while under the influence of drugs. If a police officer suspects someone is driving under the influence of drugs and not alcohol the officer can request the suspect to submit to a drug test. The question has been and will continue to be- what exactly do the results of a drug test tell us with respect to DWI?

If a person is arrested for DWI and submits to a drug test a positive result will be used against that person in court, but that drug test really tells us very little about the person’s impairment at the time he or she was driving. Marijuana can stay in a person’s system for weeks, and thus a positive marijuana test would have little probative value in court and a huge prejudicial effect on the defendant. Even a positive cocaine test would offer little probative value in court, as cocaine can stay in the system for days. Why should a jury be entitled to see evidence that a DUI defendant tested positive for cocaine when the defendant took the cocaine 2 days prior to the DUI arrest? The same goes for prescription medications such as painkillers like oxycodone and Vicodin or anti anxiety pills like Xanax and Valium. At least one state is currently addressing this issue, as Colorado lawmakers are debating whether to pass a law that quantifies the amount of marijuana that a person can legally have in his or her blood in order to avoid a conviction for DUI.
Continue reading →

Published on: May 7, 2012

Marijuana Possession Penalties Reduced In Maryland

By Benjamin Herbst

The Maryland Legislature recently passed a bill that will lower the maximum penalty for possession of marijuana from 1 year in jail to 90 days in jail. Maximum fines for marijuana possession will also drop from $1000 to $500. The bill was signed into law by Governor O’Malley and will go into effect in October of 2012. The Maryland marijuana bill only applies to simple possession of less than 10 grams of the plant, a compromise between the two legislative chambers. The Maryland Senate wanted the new bill to apply to possession of any amount less than 14 grams of marijuana, or one half ounce, but the Maryland House wanted reduced punishments only for less than 7 grams, or one quarter ounce of marijuana. The Maryland law makers eventually agreed on the 10 gram limit, and the bill easily passed both chambers by a vote of 41-5 in the Senate, and 92-31 in the House.

Maryland law makers have recently been focused on streamlining the judicial system, and the marijuana bill appears to be a small step in that direction. According to the FBI, Maryland police officers made nearly 24,000 marijuana arrests in 2010. Many of the resulting criminal marijuana cases can linger for months in Maryland circuit courts, because defendants who face more than 90 days in jail are entitled to a circuit court jury trial. Only a fraction of these circuit court cases are actually tried in front of a jury. Criminal defense lawyers, and the defendants themselves are aware that these cases often end up being dismissed or reduced after months of stagnation in circuit court. The theory that good things happen to those that wait out their criminal cases is often true for defendants, but the judicial system ends up bearing the burden, and has become increasingly and unnecessarily bogged down.
Continue reading →

Published on: April 23, 2012

Maryland Man Arrested For Selling Marijuana From Ice Cream Truck

By Benjamin Herbst

A Maryland man was recently arrested for selling marijuana and other drugs from his ice cream truck according to police in Charles County. The alleged Maryland drug dealer was arrested based on a tip from Crime Solvers. The tip apparently informed police that the 20 year old man had been illegally selling packets of marijuana while at the same time legally selling frozen treats in southern Maryland neighborhoods. Police responded to the tip and sent a investigative unit to attempt to observe the ice cream drug dealer in action. Police investigative units apparently were not able to catch the Maryland man actually performing a hand to hand transaction with a would be marijuana buyer, but they were able to secure an arrest with the help of a canine police unit.

Police initiated the arrest by conducting a traffic stop on the ice cream truck. After pulling over the ice cream truck, police called for a canine unit in order to effectuate a drug sniff. The canine drug sniffer alerted police to the presence of marijuana within the truck, thus giving the southern Maryland police officers probable cause to conduct a search of the area in question. Cops were able to locate baggies of marijuana packaged for sale from within the truck, as well as on the person of the Maryland man. Police also discovered a large amount of cash in the truck that was stored separately from the ice cream proceeds.
Continue reading →

Published on: April 10, 2012

Baltimore Drug Dealer Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison

By Benjamin Herbst

A Baltimore area marijuana dealer has been sentenced to over 20 years in prison after the jury found him guilty at trial. Defense lawyers were unable to overcome the strong evidence that federal prosecutors presented during two weeks of testimony in United States district court in Maryland. The convicted Baltimore drug dealer was arrested in 2010 and charged with distribution of marijuana and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Both the internal revenue service and the federal drug enforcement agency participated in the investigation, which ultimately let to a multi count indictment.

The Baltimore man had been charged with selling marijuana over a span of more than 5 years, with the first drug deals allegedly taking place in 2004. Government witnesses testified that the Baltimore dealer was the supervisor of a large scale organization responsible for transporting for sale hundreds of pounds of marijuana from the southwest United States to the east coast and Maryland. Testimony revealed that the Baltimore man had sold nearly 10,000 pounds of marijuana over the course of the drug conspiracy. State witnesses also testified that the drug dealing began with the purchase of about 100 pounds of marijuana from a source in Arizona. These 100 pound purchases grew substantially over time, and by the end of 2005 the Baltimore man was purchasing as much as 900 pounds of marijuana at a time for sale on the east coast.
Continue reading →

Published on: March 10, 2012

Should Maryland Decriminalize Marijuana And Other Drugs?

By Benjamin Herbst

Each year thousands of defendants are arrested in Maryland for possession of marijuana and other drugs such as cocaine and and prescription pills. The costs of enforcing Maryland marijuana laws and other drug laws were revealed in part one of this post. In part two we will discuss the possible positive effects of decriminalizing marijuana in Maryland.

Decriminalization does not necessarily mean that drugs would be legal, rather it simply means that those caught possessing marijuana or other decriminalized drugs would not face criminal sanctions such as jail time. Penalties could still be imposed, including fines, and tickets similar to parking infraction tickets. Decriminalization must occur at the state government level and at the local level in order to be effective.

To initiate decriminalization of marijuana the Maryland Legislature would elect take its drug laws off the books, forcing local governments such as Baltimore City or Baltimore County to instruct its police officers to stop making drug arrests. If local governments have their own drug laws, they could choose to continue to enforce them unless the Maryland legislature enacts specific legislation prohibiting this. Ideally decriminalization would be a joint state and local effort, but Maryland state law would prevail in case of a conflict.
Continue reading →

Published on: March 6, 2012

Are Maryland Marijuana Laws More Harmful Than Actual Marijuana?

By Benjamin Herbst

Each year Maryland police officers make thousands of drug arrests, costing hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, and yet there continues to be no visible evidence that the war on drugs is decreasing the amount of drug users in Maryland. Police officers focus a large portion of their time and effort making arrests for possession of cocaine, heroin, and prescription medication throughout Maryland, and especially in Baltimore City. Perhaps the most staggering data comes from the amount of marijuana arrests that Maryland cops make, and the money spent to make these marijuana arrests.

Maryland police officers made almost 25,000 marijuana arrests in 2007 which averages to roughly 440 people arrested for marijuana per 100,000 people in the general population. This according to drugscience.org is the fourth highest cannabis arrest ratio in the country. About 90 percent of these arrests were for possession, while the other 10 percent were for trafficking, sale, or dealing.

More alarming is the amount of money and resources Maryland spends on enforcing its marijuana laws. While Maryland does not have the strictest marijuana laws in the country, millions of taxpayer dollars are spent on police protection, the judicial system, and the corrections department to enforce these laws. Simple possession of marijuana in Maryland is a misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of one year in jail for a first time offender. Sale and trafficking of marijuana are both felonies with much larger maximum jail sentences. Sale carries up to 5 years in jail. and may carry a mandatory jail sentence, while trafficking can carry up to a 40 year jail sentence and heavy fines.
Continue reading →