cannabisnews.com: DUI Ruling Jeopardizes Drug Arrests!





DUI Ruling Jeopardizes Drug Arrests!
Posted by FoM on June 02, 1999 at 07:20:27 PT
Source: Access Atlanta
Hundreds of DUI cases are in jeopardy of being dismissed as a result of a Georgia Supreme Court ruling Tuesday that said the Legislature unconstitutionally allowed exceptions for drivers who use marijuana for medicinal reasons.
In a unanimous ruling, the court struck down the law against driving under the influence of illegal drugs on grounds of equal protection. The problem, the court said, is that a person driving under the influence of legally prescribed marijuana can be just as unsafe as a recreational marijuana user. Exceptions can be made only if they are rational, Chief Justice Robert Benham wrote for the court. Because DUI laws were passed to ensure public safety, creating a distinction for medicinal marijuana is arbitrary and unconstitutional, Benham said. "This is going to affect a lot of cases," Lawrenceville lawyer David Edward Clark said. "This is going to upset a lot of prosecutors, because hundreds of DUI cases now pending will no doubt be dismissed." In 1981, the Legislature voted to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to cancer patients suffering from the effects of chemotherapy or radiation treatment and to people with glaucoma. The law is still on the books, but there apparently is no active program. "Obviously most of our DUIs are alcohol cases," Assistant Gwinnett Solicitor Gary Vey said. "But we do have a significant number of marijuana cases, and at a minimum this decision will cause us problems with many of those." The court's ruling reaches beyond cases made just for DUIs involving marijuana, because the portion of the law declared unconstitutional covers DUIs involving marijuana and all drugs considered controlled substances. The ruling affects DUI prosecutions only when drugs are found in a driver's blood or urine, not when someone is pulled over by police for driving unsafely. The ruling means that "if you're stoned and driving poorly, you can still be arrested for DUI," Clark said. "But if you are driving well and are found to have traces of an illegal drug in your blood or urine, you can no longer be charged with DUI." Clark represents University of Georgia student Everette Bryan Love, who was stopped on I-85 in Gwinnett County on May 31, 1996. Samples of his blood and urine showed small traces of marijuana. Love's conviction was overturned as a result of the ruling. The ruling is not expected to apply to convictions before Tuesday, Clark said. Jim Martin, an Atlanta lawyer and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said the General Assembly will try to fix the law when it convenes in January. "We'll definitely look at it," he said. "But this also means that the police in the meantime are going to have to be more careful in making their cases." http://www.accessatlanta.com/news/1999/06/02/dui.html
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Comment #1 posted by NIKKI on March 10, 2000 at 10:45:23 PT:
marijuana
I THINK THAT MARIJUANA SHOULD BE LEGALIZED BECAUSE IT HELPS CANCER PATIENTS GET THROUGH THEIR PAIN AND RELAX. THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO FEEL RELAXED AND NOT IN PAIN ALL THE TIME.ANOTHER REASON THAT IT SHOULD BE LEGALIZED IS THAT IF PEOPLE WANNA CHILL-OUT INSTEAD OF BEING REALLY UPTIGHT THEY SHOULD BE ALLOWED. I CAN UNDERSTAND WHEN PEOPLE MIX IT WITH OTHER STUFF IT IS REALLY DANGERROUS BUT BY IT'S SELF IT REALLY WON'T BOTHER U. IT IS SOMETHING THAT NATURE GAVE US SO WHY NOT US IT.
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