Court's Marijuana Ruling A Victory For Authorities

[Purveyor]

Marijuana users can be arrested for drugged driving weeks after they toast a joint, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in a Jackson County appeal.

A veteran prosecutor hailed the ruling as a correct interpretation of the zero-tolerance law that will make enforcement easier. A longtime defense attorney said the high court has opened the floodgates on overreaching government.

"This goes to show the Supreme Court does not seem to care about individual rights," Jackson attorney Jerry Engle said.

At issue were cases from Jackson and Grand Traverse counties. The local case involved the prosecution of Dennis Kurts for driving under the influence of marijuana.

Blackman Township police in February 2004 cited Kurts, 44, of Michigan Center, after he was stopped for driving erratically. He admitted smoking marijuana, police said. The time frame in which he smoked is unclear.

A blood test did not detect the narcotic THC, or tetrahydrrocannabinol, which is in marijuana. Instead, the test showed the presence of carboxy THC, a benign product of metabolism that can remain in the blood for a month after marijuana use.

Jackson County Circuit Judge Chad Schmucker dismissed the case in 2004 on the basis that the THC remnant was not an illegal controlled substance. Wednesday's ruling sends the case back to Schmucker's court.

"The Supreme Court makes it clear carboxy THC is a controlled substance, and the Michigan Legislature says it is against the law to drive with any controlled substance in the body," said Jerrold Schrotenboer, appellate attorney for Prosecutor Hank Zavislak.

Had the ruling gone the other way, prosecutors and defense attorneys would have to offer dueling expert witnesses to argue the issue, Schrotenboer said. The high court's ruling considers the THC derivative and the actual narcotic one in the same, rather than circumstantial evidence that a driver might have been high.

"This makes it vastly easier for prosecutors to convict on drugged-driving charges," Schrotenboer said.

That alarms Engle, who argued against Schrotenboer before the Supreme Court in January. Not all police and prosecutors use discretion, and some might see the same dollar signs that drive drunken-driving convictions, Engle said. The Legislature in recent years passed fees of up to $3,500 against drunken drivers, and those same fees apply to drugged driving, he said.

"Suppose someone runs a red light into your car. The cop asks if you have smoked marijuana in the last several weeks," Engle said. "A blood test shows carboxy THC. The other guy gets a traffic ticket, and you go to jail."

LINK: http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/news-17/115099236535720.xml&coll=3

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

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[ThomCat]

2. Arbitrary authority wins over Justice.

Power wins over reason.
x(

[skids]

3. I think the last sentence sums it up...

Smoke a joint on Saturday, get pulled over on Monday of next week, test positive for metabolites -- sorry, you were DUI.

Astounding. Reprehensable. Incongruous.

[benburch]

4. Let the witch hunts begin.

LEGALIZE IT NOW.

[itzamirakul]

5. How about methadone users. Will they face jail time also?

I could be wrong, but it APPEARS that meth users are not punished but are sent for treatment.

[dogday]

6. Hi do you have a link for this please?

:hi: thanks

[Purveyor]

8. Oops...sorry. Here is the link...

http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/news-17/115099236535720.xml&coll=3

[dogday]

12. Thanks for this

[silverweb]

7. Typical authoritarianism.

How's that saying go... "Everything not mandatory is forbidden, and everything not forbidden is mandatory." Something like that. It turns the idea of "Liberty and Justice" completely inside out.

Make criminals out of ordinary people going about their ordinary daily business, and the authoritarian rulers have complete control. We're well on our way, thanks to totalitarian reTHUG plans.

:grr:

[villager]

9. I hope those fradulent "libertarians" who get duped into voting

for the GOP are happy now. Assholes.

[Kolesar]

10. Blood tests can be forced?

I thought it was only breathalizers (for alcohol)

[Mandate My Ass]

15. IIRC, breathalyzers can be challenged in court but not blood

Hence, lots of police departments now routinely have blood drawn from DUI suspects.

[Sapere aude]

11. The West Hollywood city council asked the LA County Sheriff not to arrest

people who use small quantities of marijuana in private.

[tridim]

13. How soon until they start giving mandatory "Marijuana tests" to everyone

Just think of all the rights the feds could take away then.

Don't assume that shit like this isn't coming just because it sounds crazy.

[Faux pas]

14. Well, I'd rather be stoned than sober when the jackbooted

asses kick down my door. Like there aren't bigger problems out there. Sheesh...

[MrSlayer]

16. This is sick and disgusting.

What's next? Life sentence for doing some acid back in college? Mandatory spinal taps? This is way out of hand.

[mike_c]

17. I'm so happy that I live in a state that has better things to do...

...than obsess over how long ago someone might have smoked pot.... :smoke:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. This will hit minorities the hardest.

Which should be obvious, but just so everybody's on the same page.