The Boston Globe’s John Guilfoil had an item a few days ago about an apparently successful “Ambien defense” to vehicular homicide: An Andover lawyer was acquitted yesterday of a charge of motor vehicle homicide in the death of a Methuen man who was changing a flat tire on Interstate 93 in Tewksbury in July 2006. […]
READ MOREYou Won’t Believe What is Considered Justified Grounds for a SWAT Raid on Your Home
The Fourth Amendment is supposed to ensure that law enforcement cannot conduct unjustified searches of a person or his home. Your house is particularly sacrosanct, as you have the ultimate expectation of privacy when you are in your own home. This is why it is so unbelievable that a federal judge recently ruled that a […]
READ MOREAmbien and Mens Rea, Take Two
Back in May of 2006 this blog noted some of the potentially complicated issues that can arise in criminal cases where the defendant claims his or her behavior was related to use of the drug Ambien. The issue arises in cases like the one I noted last June where a woman claimed that the drug […]
READ MORESleeping Pills vs. Salvia and the Rhetoric of Risk
Many times when legislators speak about the need to criminalize the hallucinogenic plant salvia divinorum, they cite the risk that somebody could drive when under its influence, a scenario that suggests that salvia is dangerous even if people normally just sit around in their living room while they use it and don’t harm anyone. (See, […]
READ MOREMADD Pushes for Nationwide Interlock Systems
The Associated Press notes today that Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has kicked off a campaign to encourage all states to pass laws requiring “breath-test interlock devices” in the cars of people who have been convicted once of drunken driving. “Only New Mexico has such a law for first offenders; 45 states and the District of Columbia […]
READ MOREI Believe: 100 Words on Why Drug Policy Reform Matters
Drug policy is a complicated issue. Is there anything anybody can say in 100 words that would make you change your mind about the way we deal with drugs? Here’s my stab at it. What’s yours? I believe that America needs to change the way it deals with drugs. The war on drugs has made America […]
READ MOREThe Cato Debate Continues: Caulkins on Prohibition Alternatives
Jonthan Caulkins has a post up at Cato Unbound today responding to the essay on responsible psychoactive use I noted yesterday. It’s a defense of the status quo around drug law, but it’s quite thoughtful. Even so, I don’t think Caulkins is making a sincere effort to consider the alternatives to prohibition. He notes that […]
READ MOREPeople v. Timms: CA 2d on Voluntary Intoxication
California Penal Code section 22, which “sets forth the general principle in this state that a criminal act is not rendered less criminal because a person commits the act in a state of voluntary intoxication,” does not violate a criminal defendant’s right to due process, the California Second District Court of Appeal held Monday in […]
READ MOREOf Alcohol Inhalers and Strong Marijuana
What do “alcohol inhalers” – devices that allow individuals to inhale alcohol vapor, and thereby get drunk without experiencing any hangover – have to do with the much touted increasing strength of marijuana ? Just this: that our society has been able to draw a distinction between the legal and responsible use of alcohol, which […]
READ MOREEyeing a Permanent Beach Alcohol Ban in San Diego
I’ve got two reasons for being interested in the possibility that San Diego voters will make permanent a one-year beach alcohol ban in this year’s election. The personal reason is that I’m originally from San Diego and still go down to the beach there all the time to surf. It’s been interesting to listen to […]
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