Weight of pot brownies?

Pegasus

Pegasus

Ex-Bluelighter
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Let's say someone in the USA gets caught with marijuana brownies and gets charged with the entire weight of the brownies... What generally happens in cases like these? It seems to me that there would be something a person could argue to get the charge moved down from say, a felony to a misdemeanor? The state to which this hypothetical question applies is Georgia, where the charge increases to a felony at 1 oz. The amount of marijuana in these hypothetical brownies would be less than 1 oz.

Any information would be appreciated. Searching gives mixed answers.
 
i know here in tx if you have say... pills in a bag, they weigh the pills inside the bag and include the weight of the bag in the weight....

so i assume theyre going to say that the brownies themselves are illegal due to their content and weigh the batch of brownies, could land you in some complicated legal issues..
 
^ Lawyer needed? Yes, agreed, especially after an arrest. Complex? I don't know...

They're either going to weigh the controlled substance together with the medium it's in, and use that to decide the charges, or they're going to set the charges based on weight of the controlled substance alone. I don't think that's complex, it's just the policy set by Georgia law or federal law, depending on who files the charges.

I'm 99.9% sure that under federal law, the charges are based on the total weight of the substance + medium. There are many people in federal prison serving 15+ year sentences for possession of LSD because they weighed the blotter to calculate the amount of LSD. I'm sorry I can't provide a cite to the statute or regulation just now, and also am not sure whether these people are serving sentences for simple possession or for possession for sale. Here's an interesting article about this, but I can't vouch for its accuracy: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-14536893.html

Georgia law someone will have to look up.
 
§16-13-21 (16)

"Marijuana" means all parts of the plant of the genus Cannabis, whether growing or not, the seeds thereof, the resin extracted from any part of such plant, and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such plant, its seeds, or resin; but shall not include samples as described in subparagraph (P) of paragraph (3) of Code Section 16-13-25 and shall not include the completely defoliated mature stalks of such plant, fiber produced from such stalks, oil, or cake, or the completely sterilized samples of seeds of the plant which are incapable of germination.
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I would say that pot brownies would likely qualify as a mixture, but you need to retain a lawyer with experience in drug cases to go over all possible defenses.
 
Nice work, forgotten. :)

I would not be surprised if the definitions of "preparation" and/or "mixture" have been interpreted by Georgia appellate courts. Brownies are very heavy compared to the amount of marijuana in them, thus an argument can be made that the legislature did not intend for such an unconcentrated form to be weighed. While this approach has been upheld in federal courts for federal law, perhaps Georgia judges have been more reasonable. (Then again, it is the South...)
 
Alright, thanks for the information. It will be passed on to the needy.
 
Consider paying a food chemist to analyze the chemical components of the brownies to determine the real weight of cannabis.
 
Johnny1 said:
^ Lawyer needed? Yes, agreed, especially after an arrest. Complex? I don't know...

They're either going to weigh the controlled substance together with the medium it's in, and use that to decide the charges, or they're going to set the charges based on weight of the controlled substance alone. I don't think that's complex, it's just the policy set by Georgia law or federal law, depending on who files the charges.

I'm 99.9% sure that under federal law, the charges are based on the total weight of the substance + medium. There are many people in federal prison serving 15+ year sentences for possession of LSD because they weighed the blotter to calculate the amount of LSD. I'm sorry I can't provide a cite to the statute or regulation just now, and also am not sure whether these people are serving sentences for simple possession or for possession for sale. Here's an interesting article about this, but I can't vouch for its accuracy: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-14536893.html

Georgia law someone will have to look up.
Click to expand...

The Feds have changed there stance on LSD on blotter paper --

Because the weights of LSD carrier media vary widely and typically far exceed the weight of the controlled substance itself, the Commission has determined that basing offense levels on the entire weight of the LSD and carrier medium would produce unwarranted disparity among offenses involving the same quantity of actual LSD (but different carrier weights), as well as sentences disproportionate to those for other, more dangerous controlled substances, such as PCP.

Consequently, in cases involving LSD contained in a carrier medium, the Commission has established a weight per dose of 0.4 milligram for purposes of determining the base offense level.
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http://www.ussc.gov/2006guid/2d1_1.html

I don't see anything about pot brownies though...
 
Thanks for the post, BeenThere. This is great news. Perhaps some of the people languishing in prison can use this to help have their sentence commuted.

400 micrograms per dose as the calculated amount...I feel sorry for people who are selling weaker acid and get caught (though some in the BL PD forum would say it's just desserts). ;)
 
In CA, my friend has gotten screwed because he had an 8th inside of a thick glass jar, they weighed the whole jar and he got charged with a few ounces of marijuana, luckily he was a minor and CA laws on marijuana are a bit more lenient than other states. In the case of brownies i think it would be hard to figure out how much THC is in the batch and I would assume that the whole brownie would be contaminated in some way with THC. Unfair but I think that it's the only way they would be able to charge you for possession
 
BeenThere said:
The Feds have changed there stance on LSD on blotter paper --



http://www.ussc.gov/2006guid/2d1_1.html
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, this isn't the whole picture. The link you provide is from the Sentencing Guidelines, but the Sentencing Guidelines are trumped by the statute in question (21 USC 841):

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/ts_search.pl?title=21&sec=841

And the statute sets minimum mandatory sentences at certain weights that include the whole mixture (e.g. 5 years for 1 gram). So if you're convicted for 50 micrograms of LSD on a medium that weighs 1 gram, you're getting at least 5 years, no matter what.

Second, note that even under the sentencing guidelines, you still include the medium - it's just that they bumped up the weight of "one dose" for sentencing purposes, from 50 micrograms to 0.4 mg. If you happened to put 50 mics of LSD in a medium that weighs more than 0.4 mg, you're still going to get screwed.
 
my 'friend' was charged with possession of 2.8Kg of cannabis after police raided his home....there was roughly 4oz of actual bud which was still pretty much wet and the rest was cabbage and stalks....but the law in this country as prob in most, states that its illegal to be in possession of the marijuana plant.!stalks,leaves etc inclusive as was a large cardboard box.
My friend argued about the box and as they couldnt get it reweighed without the box before trial he got the minimum sentence for possession....(community work)
 
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