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LobsterSauce
Registered: 11/09/08
Posts: 19,884
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Get your official facepalm right here!: Minnesota Court Rules Bong Water Illegal.
#11316162 - 10/25/09 01:35 AM (14 years, 5 months ago) |
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http://current.com/1f00i4c
MINNEAPOLIS — Bong water can count as a controlled substance, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Thursday in a decision that raises the threat of longer sentences for drug smokers who fail to dump the water out of their pipes.
In a 4-3 decision Thursday, the state's highest court said a person can be prosecuted for a first-degree drug crime for 25 grams or more of bong water that tests positive for a controlled substance.
The decision, which reverses two lower court rulings, came in the case of Sara Peck. Items seized during a search of her Rice County home in 2007 included a glass bong — a type of water pipe often used to smoke drugs — that contained 37 grams — about 2 1/2 tablespoons — of a liquid that tested positive for the presence of methamphetamine.
The Supreme Court said that unambiguously counts as a drug "mixture" under the wording of state law and sent the case back to Rice County District Court for further proceedings. The decision, authored by Justice G. Barry Anderson, noted that the liquid wasn't plain clear water, but had a pink color and fruity odor, and that a narcotics officer had testified that drug users sometimes keep bong water to drink or inject later.
The statute defines a drug "mixture" as "a preparation, compound, mixture, or substance containing a controlled substance, regardless of purity." When the language of a statute is unambiguous, the high court said, precedents prohibit courts from disregarding the letter of the law under the pretext of pursuing the letter of the law.
In a sharply worded dissent, Justice Paul Anderson said the majority's decision "does not make sense, and borders on the absurd." He said it isn't consistent with what the Legislature intended when it wrote the state's drug laws. And he blasted Rice County authorities for charging Peck with such a serious crime.
If bong water is considered a drug mixture, and it weighs enough to raise the crime to a first-degree drug offense, the presumed sentence for a first-time offender is seven years and two months in prison, and a felony drug offense goes on his or her record, Paul Anderson wrote.
But if the bong water is treated as part of the drug paraphernalia, as the lower courts held, he wrote, the same defendant would face no more than a $300 fine and the petty misdemeanor conviction would not go on his or her record.
Justices Alan Page and Helen Meyer joined in Paul Anderson's dissent.
Attorney Bradford Delapena, who represents Peck, said he had not yet had a chance to discuss the ruling with her, but he said the dissent correctly pointed out the problems the ruling raises.
"They're treating Ms. Peck, who had two tablespoons of bong water, as if she were a major drug wholesaler," he said.
Delapena said Peck's case now goes back to the trial court, where he said prosecutors could use the ruling to try to extract a guilty plea to a more serious offense with a stiffer sentence than a $300 fine on a petty misdemeanor. He laughed at the suggestion that it means dope smokers should empty their bongs promptly.
"I wouldn't presume to draw that lesson," he said. "I would just stick with the legal lessons."
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elementswrath
Finger' trippin good
Registered: 08/04/09
Posts: 5,276
Loc: suiciety
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Re: Get your official facepalm right here!: Minnesota Court Rules Bong Water Illegal. [Re: LobsterSauce]
#11316170 - 10/25/09 01:37 AM (14 years, 5 months ago) |
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x 9000
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Hendostan
Registered: 07/18/04
Posts: 4,444
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Re: Get your official facepalm right here!: Minnesota Court Rules Bong Water Illegal. [Re: LobsterSauce]
#11316192 - 10/25/09 01:41 AM (14 years, 5 months ago) |
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i will never stop drinking my bongwater!!!!!
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Indubitably
Stranger
Registered: 10/19/09
Posts: 301
Last seen: 14 years, 5 months
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Re: Get your official facepalm right here!: Minnesota Court Rules Bong Water Illegal. [Re: Hendostan]
#11316199 - 10/25/09 01:42 AM (14 years, 5 months ago) |
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Meth pipes with resin is a felony this is no surprise.
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niteowl
GrandPaw
Registered: 07/01/03
Posts: 16,291
Loc:
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Re: Get your official facepalm right here!: Minnesota Court Rules Bong Water Illegal. [Re: Indubitably]
#11316269 - 10/25/09 01:54 AM (14 years, 5 months ago) |
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Any pipe with drug residue in it's a felony don't see why bong water would be any different
nothing new here
move along move along
-------------------- Live for the moment you are in nowDon't be bogged down by your pastDon't be afraid of what lies in your future
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Indubitably
Stranger
Registered: 10/19/09
Posts: 301
Last seen: 14 years, 5 months
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Re: Get your official facepalm right here!: Minnesota Court Rules Bong Water Illegal. [Re: niteowl]
#11316281 - 10/25/09 01:56 AM (14 years, 5 months ago) |
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Even a used syringe can count.
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niteowl
GrandPaw
Registered: 07/01/03
Posts: 16,291
Loc:
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Re: Get your official facepalm right here!: Minnesota Court Rules Bong Water Illegal. [Re: Indubitably]
#11316324 - 10/25/09 02:05 AM (14 years, 5 months ago) |
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anything that has illegal drugs in it is a felony pipe, bong, syringe, ashtray.......anything
-------------------- Live for the moment you are in nowDon't be bogged down by your pastDon't be afraid of what lies in your future
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vinsue
Grand Old Fart
Registered: 02/17/04
Posts: 17,953
Loc: The Garden State(NJ)
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Re: Get your official facepalm right here!: Minnesota Court Rules Bong Water Illegal. [Re: LobsterSauce]
#11316333 - 10/25/09 02:07 AM (14 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
a narcotics officer had testified that drug users sometimes keep bong water to drink or inject later
... Never in my life have I thought about doing that. Shooting bong water?
-------------------- "All mushrooms are edible; but some only once." Croatian proverb. BTW ... Have You Rated Ythans Mom Yet ?? ... ... HERE'S HOW ... (be nice) . ...
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LobsterSauce
Registered: 11/09/08
Posts: 19,884
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Re: Get your official facepalm right here!: Minnesota Court Rules Bong Water Illegal. [Re: vinsue]
#11316338 - 10/25/09 02:08 AM (14 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
vinsue said:
Quote:
a narcotics officer had testified that drug users sometimes keep bong water to drink or inject later
... Never in my life have I thought about doing that. Shooting bong water?
I didn't read all of it.
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elementswrath
Finger' trippin good
Registered: 08/04/09
Posts: 5,276
Loc: suiciety
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Re: Get your official facepalm right here!: Minnesota Court Rules Bong Water Illegal. [Re: niteowl]
#11316344 - 10/25/09 02:09 AM (14 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
niteowl said: anything that has illegal drugs in it is a felony pipe, bong, syringe, ashtray.......anything
so i am a contraband if i smoke a joint? AWESOME!!! my blood is illegal.
nah really, legalize drugs.
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elementswrath
Finger' trippin good
Registered: 08/04/09
Posts: 5,276
Loc: suiciety
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Re: Get your official facepalm right here!: Minnesota Court Rules Bong Water Illegal. [Re: niteowl]
#11316346 - 10/25/09 02:10 AM (14 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
niteowl said: anything that has illegal drugs in it is a felony pipe, bong, syringe, ashtray.......anything
so i am a contraband if i smoke a joint? AWESOME!!! my blood is illegal.
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Morgenstern
WHAT!
Registered: 06/07/09
Posts: 6,450
Loc:
Last seen: 7 months, 13 hours
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Re: Get your official facepalm right here!: Minnesota Court Rules Bong Water Illegal. [Re: LobsterSauce]
#11316351 - 10/25/09 02:11 AM (14 years, 5 months ago) |
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LOL, inject and drink?
Holy fucking facepalm.
-------------------- Admins can't read graphs.
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kaste
six-nine power slider
Registered: 12/29/08
Posts: 2,401
Loc: Latvia
Last seen: 6 years, 5 months
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Re: Get your official facepalm right here!: Minnesota Court Rules Bong Water Illegal. [Re: Morgenstern]
#11316379 - 10/25/09 02:19 AM (14 years, 5 months ago) |
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Drink bong water? Bong water is in my TOP5 most disguisting smelling things. And I reckon it would taste like ass too.
-------------------- It could be worse. A woman could cut off your penis while you're sleeping and toss it out the window of a moving car.
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muistrue
Inspired by the mystery
Registered: 03/20/05
Posts: 12,899
Loc: Behind the Redwoods
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Re: Get your official facepalm right here!: Minnesota Court Rules Bong Water Illegal. [Re: kaste]
#11316387 - 10/25/09 02:23 AM (14 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
kaste said: Drink bong water? Bong water is in my TOP5 most disguisting smelling things. And I reckon it would taste like ass too.
Yeah that's why we inject it like the officer said.
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elementswrath
Finger' trippin good
Registered: 08/04/09
Posts: 5,276
Loc: suiciety
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Re: Get your official facepalm right here!: Minnesota Court Rules Bong Water Illegal. [Re: elementswrath]
#11316392 - 10/25/09 02:25 AM (14 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
elementswrath said:
Quote:
niteowl said: anything that has illegal drugs in it is a felony pipe, bong, syringe, ashtray.......anything
so i am a contraband if i smoke a joint? AWESOME!!! my blood is illegal.
maybe i should also suck out some of my drug blood in case i wants to get high later, just as logical as bong water injection if you ask me. where are my syringes?.
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Wysefool
I AM SKELETON JELLY
Registered: 12/26/02
Posts: 6,643
Last seen: 7 days, 16 hours
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Re: Get your official facepalm right here!: Minnesota Court Rules Bong Water Illegal. [Re: muistrue]
#11316394 - 10/25/09 02:25 AM (14 years, 5 months ago) |
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They're mostly talking about meth bongs though
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Morgenstern
WHAT!
Registered: 06/07/09
Posts: 6,450
Loc:
Last seen: 7 months, 13 hours
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Re: Get your official facepalm right here!: Minnesota Court Rules Bong Water Illegal. [Re: LobsterSauce]
#11316418 - 10/25/09 02:33 AM (14 years, 5 months ago) |
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This is even worse than the retard that asked if it was smart to put mushrooms in his bong water while smoking.
-------------------- Admins can't read graphs.
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elementswrath
Finger' trippin good
Registered: 08/04/09
Posts: 5,276
Loc: suiciety
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Re: Get your official facepalm right here!: Minnesota Court Rules Bong Water Illegal. [Re: Morgenstern]
#11316428 - 10/25/09 02:35 AM (14 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
Mataspore said: This is even worse than the retard that asked if it was smart to put mushrooms in his bong water while smoking.
i have seen that thread, what a LOLofactory. makes me laugh how common sense fails some people.
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vinsue
Grand Old Fart
Registered: 02/17/04
Posts: 17,953
Loc: The Garden State(NJ)
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Re: Get your official facepalm right here!: Minnesota Court Rules Bong Water Illegal. [Re: Morgenstern]
#11316434 - 10/25/09 02:36 AM (14 years, 5 months ago) |
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...Or injecting spores(into a vein, not a jar)...
-------------------- "All mushrooms are edible; but some only once." Croatian proverb. BTW ... Have You Rated Ythans Mom Yet ?? ... ... HERE'S HOW ... (be nice) . ...
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smack
Observer
Registered: 08/05/09
Posts: 5,600
Loc: Land of the Ice and Snow
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Re: Get your official facepalm right here!: Minnesota Court Rules Bong Water Illegal. [Re: vinsue]
#11316487 - 10/25/09 02:55 AM (14 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
vinsue said: ...Or injecting spores(into a vein, not a jar)...
I'm pretty sure the guy was baked and was wonderin if you hand could host a good amount of psilocybin.
-------------------- 14:31
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