DON'T BE FOOLED, POT STILL ILLEGAL

Marijuana has been in the news an awful lot lately. The ballot
referendum in California. Medicinal marijuana becoming legal in many
states, including New Jersey. Philadelphia's decision to downgrade the
possession of a small amount of marijuana from a misdemeanor to a
summary offense. Cable TV shows that tell us how marijuana has become
mainstream in America.

But in the rest of the state, and particularly here in Bucks County,
sorry guys, it is still a crime.

It used to be that clients who sat across my desk from me were more
than a bit embarrassed after being arrested for possessing weed. But
in the past year or so, perhaps because of the public debate or from
watching too many Judd Apatow movies, my prospective clients from
teens to seniors, now look at me like I have a third eyeball in the
middle of my head when I tell them about the long list of penalties
and expenses they are facing.

Possession of less than an ounce is still a misdemeanor that subjects
you to 30 days incarceration (rarely imposed), a suspended driver's
license and ever-rising court costs. The baggie, rolling papers or
pipe that the pot is found in, paraphernalia, is punishable by one
year in prison. It may also affect student loans, job prospects and
give you a record for life.

The rudest awakening for users comes when they're arrested for drunk
driving. When the law regarding driving after imbibing became
effective in 2004, special provisions concerning both legal and
illicit drugs were included. Not only could you be considered under
the influence for being high on street drugs while driving, but also
for motoring with medicines prescribed by doctors. But for marijuana
smokers, having any amount of its active ingredient (THC) in your
blood renders you guilty of DUI.

The law does not stop there. Should blood testing reveal a relatively
small amount of the inert, non-high producing metabolite in your
system, which your body stores and releases days and even weeks after
use, you, too, are guilty. Essentially the law was expanded to treat
high, dangerous and impaired drivers the same as people who smoke
after work on Friday and get pulled over on Monday heading back to
their employment.

Think the appellate courts will step in? Sorry, they have addressed
the issue on appeals and upheld the law.

Think the Constitution will protect you? Wrong again. The law took
away the right to trial by jury for first offenders and an officer is
no longer required to have probable cause to pull you over. Breath
test analysis, which does not detect drug usage, has gone the way of
the rotary phone. Nearly every police department in our county will
take you to a hospital for a blood draw.

In court, I have watched countless citizens describe how they use
marijuana in regards to their cancer treatment or chronic pain and how
it gives them the relief they need to endure their lives. I then watch
as these same people are led off to our county prison in handcuffs,
their driver's license gone and saddled with thousands of dollars in
fines, costs and treatment expenses.

Fair or unfair, wise or just a waste of taxpayer money, marijuana
remains a legal no-no. Partake at your own risk.

Ronald H. Elgart, Esquire, from his office high atop the Falls
Township Police Department, has been a criminal defense lawyer for 26
years. He does not partake.