"Felony Drug Offense" is a term of Art
Or, at least, it is for sentence enhancement purposes under the Controlled Substances Act. 21 U.S.C. § 841 (b)(1)(A). So said a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court in Burgess v. U.S., released today.
Burgess pleaded guilty of conspiracy to posses within intent to distribute 50 grams or more cocaine, and had a previous conviction from South Carolina for possession. S.C defined the offense as a misdemeanor, but it carried a maximum sentence of two years.
Section 802 contains a definition of “felony” that defers to state law classifications of a crime, and a definition of “felony drug offense” that bases the classification upon a sentence of at least one year imprisonment being possible. The Court found that Congress intended to use the latter definition when it use the term of art “felony drug offense” in its sentence enhancing provision.
The sentence enhancer doubles the minimum sentence for this offense.
I can't argue with the Court's reasoning here; the use of the term should follow the term's definition.
But Is there any chance that Congress will ever recognize the futility of the war on drugs? We waste so much on trying to stop what obviously cannot be stopped.
So far this year - and remember, this is only April, the U.S., federal and state governments have spent more than 14 billion on the war on drugs. See the Drug War Clock.
As an ex drug addict who reformed into a casual user I was heavily in favour of legalizing drugs for a whole broad spectrum of sane and rational reasons which would take me literally hours to put forward.
Now, my opinion has changed. Drugs are, in all honesty, not the plague on society some misguided folks make out they are. Alcohol is a strong and dangerous drug in comparison with every variable of numerous illegal substances. So why do I think drugs should not be legalised? This is a reason you may not have come across before. A great deal of violent and dangerous criminals are participants in the illegal drugs trade. What would they be doing if drugs were legalized? I don't know, but I'm quite sure they would not turn into Legit & Honesty PLC but would instead ply another, more dangerous and insidious art.
So, drugs should stay illegal. Or dealing should, possession shouldn't but people who don't get it would say that smacks of duplicity. Of course it's duplicitous. It means normal people have nothing to worry about and keeps the bad boys happy being bad boys. Everybody wins.