THE DRUG LAW THAT WASN'T THERE

Artificial Bust

Charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, 15-year-old Joshua Krawiec
won a dismissal by proving that the law he was accused of breaking didn't
exist. In October a police dog sniffed out three film canisters in
Krawiec's locker at Newport High School in northeastern Washington state.A
field test indicated "marijuana residue" in one of the containers. Lab
analysis later confirmed the presence of pot, but the residue detected was
insufficient to charge Krawiec with drug possession. Undaunted, local
prosecutors decided to indict him for possession of drug paraphernalia.
Krawiec, who said he had no knowledge of any contraband that might have
been in the canisters, tried unsuccessfully to get the charge dismissed
based on a drug test he passed a few days after the search, Then he turned
to Citizens Against Corruption, a local grassroots legal organization. With
the assistance of CAC founder Leonard Browning, Krawiec used the Internet
to research the law he was charged with breaking as well as several
relevant court cases.

He discovered that Washington law forbids the use of paraphernalia for
producing, storing, or ingesting illegal drugs. As stated explicitly in the
1998 case Washington v. McKenna, however, "mere possession of drug
paraphernalia is not a crime."

After firing his public defender, who seemed to have little interest in
mounting a defense, Krawiec himself presented his findings to the court. In
January, Superior Court Judge Rebecca Baker reluctantly ordered the case
dismissed.