SUPREME COURT RULES DRUGS MUST BE GENUINE

CARSON CITY (AP) - The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that
a Las Vegas man can't be convicted of selling an illegal drug when the
substance he sold turned out to be fake.

The court threw out a 28-month to 72-month sentence imposed on
Christopher Douglas Paige in 1998 for selling two rocks of cocaine for
$20 to an undercover Las Vegas police officer.

Paige told the officer the substance was "good coke," but later tests
showed it wasn't cocaine. Its exact composition couldn't be determined.

Nevada law "requires the existence of an actual controlled substance
in order to sustain a conviction for offering to sell a controlled
substance," the court ruled.