A headline in today's Times Union newspaper reads:
Troy Murder Defendant Tests Positive For Pot
As a lawyer who defends marijuana defendants I may be a little sensitive, but is the Times Union trying to tie marijuana to violent behavior? Law enforcement and the media in general have been trying to sell the myth that marijuana causes violent behavior in users for years now. Anyone that claims marijuana causes violent behavior in humans has obviously never been to a jazz concert or music festival, much less ever smoked themselves. Another myth is that the marijuana drug trade results in street violence. I live in the suburbs. As many people in the burbs smoke weed as in the inner city and no one is fighting in the streets around my house. Inner city violence is generally the result of gang activity. Any one living in downtown Albany will attest to that fact.
Showing posts with label Albany Times Union. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Albany Times Union. Show all posts
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
Marijuana In The Local News
In the past twenty four hours, the Albany Times Union has published three stories related to marijuana. As a marijuana lawyer who practices in Albany County and Capital Region courts, I can't help but comment.
Shen hockey in turmoil over alleged marijuana use
"According to multiple sources, the players are accused of smoking marijuana at the hotel the team stayed at while competing at the SUNY Morrisville tournament."
Is this really a story? I mean, would you expect anything else from high school hockey players, or hockey players anywhere for that matter? BIG STORY high school hockey players smoked weed and they are in BIG TROUBLE. Oooohhhh. Those kids are bad!
Traffic stop in Colonie turns up gun
"COLONIE — Two parolees face felony weapons charges after an officer, who smelled marijuana smoke at a routine traffic stop, allegedly found a loaded handgun in the car."
So I guess what happened here is that the cops are saying they smelled "burned marijuana" and that gave them probable cause to search the car without a warrant. As a marijuana lawyer I would be interested to know how the arresting officer can distinguish between burned marijuana and other burned vegetation. Was he trained in this skill? If so, did his instructor burn sage, and then cannibis? Parsley, and then cannibis? Tobacco, and then cannibis? The story does not mention if cannibis was actually recovered from the defendants.
O.D. Heck workers face drug charges
When I started reading this story, I thought these guys must have been smoking crack or doing coke. These guys took what many blue collar guys refer to as a "smoke break". Except, they were smoking the un-lethal illegitimate cousin of tobacco, marijuana. You know, I'm willing to bet these guys are great at their jobs and if they are smoking while working, they are probably self medicating. Two of the accused are grounds workers.
Despite the fact that the legislature of New York State decriminalized the possession of marijuana a long time ago, our society still suffers from "refer madness". The guys in this story are being treated as criminals because they were smoking in public which is a misdemeanor offense under NY Penal Law 221.10. The story says they were observed passing through a patch of woods and were on a deserted golf course where they were observed passing a pipe. The statute outlaws smoking weed in a "public place". It seems to me these guys did everything they could to conceal their smoking by avoiding a place where other people were not likely to be present.
Shen hockey in turmoil over alleged marijuana use
"According to multiple sources, the players are accused of smoking marijuana at the hotel the team stayed at while competing at the SUNY Morrisville tournament."
Is this really a story? I mean, would you expect anything else from high school hockey players, or hockey players anywhere for that matter? BIG STORY high school hockey players smoked weed and they are in BIG TROUBLE. Oooohhhh. Those kids are bad!
Traffic stop in Colonie turns up gun
"COLONIE — Two parolees face felony weapons charges after an officer, who smelled marijuana smoke at a routine traffic stop, allegedly found a loaded handgun in the car."
So I guess what happened here is that the cops are saying they smelled "burned marijuana" and that gave them probable cause to search the car without a warrant. As a marijuana lawyer I would be interested to know how the arresting officer can distinguish between burned marijuana and other burned vegetation. Was he trained in this skill? If so, did his instructor burn sage, and then cannibis? Parsley, and then cannibis? Tobacco, and then cannibis? The story does not mention if cannibis was actually recovered from the defendants.
O.D. Heck workers face drug charges
When I started reading this story, I thought these guys must have been smoking crack or doing coke. These guys took what many blue collar guys refer to as a "smoke break". Except, they were smoking the un-lethal illegitimate cousin of tobacco, marijuana. You know, I'm willing to bet these guys are great at their jobs and if they are smoking while working, they are probably self medicating. Two of the accused are grounds workers.
Despite the fact that the legislature of New York State decriminalized the possession of marijuana a long time ago, our society still suffers from "refer madness". The guys in this story are being treated as criminals because they were smoking in public which is a misdemeanor offense under NY Penal Law 221.10. The story says they were observed passing through a patch of woods and were on a deserted golf course where they were observed passing a pipe. The statute outlaws smoking weed in a "public place". It seems to me these guys did everything they could to conceal their smoking by avoiding a place where other people were not likely to be present.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)