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 viscid
dikaryon
Registered: 09/23/02
Posts: 731
Loc: the mycological center of...
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 Man pleads innocent in mushroom case 
#1224446 - 01/16/03 04:44 PM (21 years, 3 months ago) |
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Man pleads innocent in mushroom case
By Emily Stone
Free Press Staff Writer
A 21-year-old man pleaded innocent Monday to three misdemeanor charges of drug possession after police allegedly found cocaine, marijuana and about 450 chocolates containing hallucinogenic mushrooms at his apartment.
Nicholas Lohr, a University of Vermont sophomore from Massachusetts, is being held in lieu of $15,000 bail. He was arrested Saturday after police came to his Williams Street apartment because Lohr was having a drug overdose. Police also found about $4,800 cash in Lohr's bedroom, according to court papers.
Prosecutor Carolyn Hanson said she wished she could have charged Lohr with a felony because of the amount of mushrooms, but is not able to do so under state law. She said the state statutes are written in a way that gives her no flexibility in charging for certain types of drug possession.
"It's very frustrating to us," Hanson said in Vermont District Court in Burlington.
The statute for possession of a hallucinogen states that a person can be charged with felony possession if he or she has more than 10 "doses" of the drug. The penalties go up as the number of doses increase. The catch is that there is no state definition of a dose.
The Department of Health is charged with defining a dose for a wide range of drugs. There is no way to easily classify a dose of mushrooms, because the potency of individual mushrooms vary greatly, said state toxicologist Bill Bress.
The solution, Hanson said, would be to increase penalties based on the weight of the drugs seized, as is done with heroin and cocaine.
Similar problems exist for other drugs, including depressants and stimulants. The heads of the Senate and House judiciary committees said Monday the statutes will likely be addressed during this legislative session.
The case
Hanson said she will seek jail time for Lohr. He faces a maximum possible sentence of 2 years in prison and a $4,500 fine for the three charges.
Hanson also asked for the $15,000 bail, which is high for a misdemeanor charge. Judge Ben Joseph agreed to the bail.
"One can only assume from reading the affidavit that he's in business," Joseph said.
Police arrived at Lohr's apartment around 1 p.m. Saturday after his roommate called for help because Lohr was having a drug overdose, according to court papers written by Burlington Detective Steve Dumas.
Lohr was not breathing when police arrived and was revived by paramedics, who took him to the hospital, Dumas wrote.
Lohr was later interviewed by Dumas at the hospital. He said he had done a line of cocaine, snorted an OxyContin pill and ate two chocolates containing mushrooms. Lohr's roommate, Ian Koch, told police that he took a small bag of cocaine off Lohr's body before police arrived, according to court papers.
Police searched the apartment with a drug dog. They found a small amount of marijuana in the living room, according to the court papers. They opened a safe in Lohr's bedroom closet and found several small bags containing a white powdery substance, $4,840 in cash and a scale.
Police also found a duffel bag in Lohr's bedroom, according to the papers. The bag held the chocolate-covered mushrooms individually wrapped in tinfoil. Lohr told Dumas he made the mushrooms, according to court papers.
Police searched Koch's room and found 25 OxyContin pills. Dumas said he is planning to cite Koch today for possession of the pills. Koch, when reached at home, said someone gave him the pills and he was unaware that they were OxyContin, a prescription opiate.
"I didn't even know what they were," he said. He said he was not selling them, nor had he used any.
New statutes
Hanson said this is not the first time she has been frustrated by the drug statutes.
A similar problem exists for depressants, stimulants and some other narcotics. Charges for possession of those drugs increase if a person is caught with more than the "therapeutic dosage" of the drug. The problem is that some drugs have no set therapeutic dose.
Rep. Peg Flory, R-Pittsford, is the chairwoman of the House Judiciary Committee. She said the committee had preliminary discussions on these problems during the last session, but did not get far enough along to propose a bill.
"It is a problem that we're aware of and I expect we will address it this year," she said.
Sen. Richard Sears, D-Bennington, said he was not aware of the specific problem with the hallucinogen statute, but said the Judiciary Committee could address that issue when looking at other drug laws this session. Sears is chairman of the committee.
Hanson, Flory and Sears mentioned another drug statute that they hope to change. The prescription fraud law does not allow prosecutors to charge a person who has legally been prescribed a prescription drug and then sells it to others.
Flory and Sears said they plan to look at changing that statute this session.
Contact Emily Stone at 660-1898 or estone@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/news/tuesday/1000h.htm
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You do not know me.
You can't see me.
Edited by Thor (01/16/03 09:01 PM)
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 DazedSol
old hand
Registered: 08/01/01
Posts: 1,230
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Re: Man pleads innocent in mushroom case [Re: viscid]
#1225522 - 01/17/03 04:49 AM (21 years, 3 months ago) |
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Interesting..... how does calling the police for 'help' give them the right to search both the kids rooms?? Messed up....
Them are pretty lenient laws it seems.....no felonies for alot of shite 
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Peace,
Adam
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Dr. Slavic
enthusiast
Registered: 10/06/02
Posts: 252
Last seen: 19 years, 10 months
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Re: Man pleads innocent in mushroom case [Re: DazedSol]
#1227050 - 01/17/03 02:26 PM (21 years, 3 months ago) |
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I've always heard when calling in an overdose the police can't search the house or charge the person for being on the drug. I mean if you definetly go to jail for trying to get help after over dosing people would just take the chance of dying rather then spend years in jail. I would at least. Maybe die, stay out of jail for sure and possiblely live or maybe survive and definently go to jail. I'd take the chance of dying rather then spend any time in jail. I mean if your on a drug that has caused you to od then there is a good chance you'll spend a good few years in prison for being in possesion of a highly illegal drug. I don't know. Fuck the police bla bla bla this and that words words words stuff stuff stuff words and some more words. The moral of this story DON'T DO DRUGS arghhhhhh. take it from ahhhhhh you know that guy ahhhhhhhh oh yeah me 
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HepC
I have HepC
Registered: 06/02/02
Posts: 44
Last seen: 21 years, 3 months
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 Re: Man pleads innocent in mushroom case [Re: DazedSol]
#1227176 - 01/17/03 03:31 PM (21 years, 3 months ago) |
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I was with this chick once and she got pulled over. The cop came to my side of the car; I was the passenger. They think they can do anything...
GOD!  450 chocolates!
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Edame
gone
Registered: 01/14/03
Posts: 1,270
Loc: outta here
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Re: Man pleads innocent in mushroom case [Re: viscid]
#1230718 - 01/19/03 07:33 AM (21 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
Lohr was later interviewed by Dumas at the hospital. He said he had done a line of cocaine, snorted an OxyContin pill and ate two chocolates containing mushrooms.
Quote:
Police searched Koch's room and found 25 OxyContin pills. Dumas said he is planning to cite Koch today for possession of the pills. Koch, when reached at home, said someone gave him the pills and he was unaware that they were OxyContin, a prescription opiate.
"I didn't even know what they were," he said. He said he was not selling them, nor had he used any.
Now I agree that it was pretty fucked up for the police to search his room (but from what I read, in the US this is hardly uncommon practice) but this guy sounds like an idiot.
Not only was he mixing drugs, but according to that report he snorted a pill that he later claimed to have no idea about what it was. He might as well have washed it all down with some bleach while he was at it.
Can somone clarify whether or not you can be arrested in the US after you have consumed an illegal drug (like if you take yourself to the hospital for help, can they arrest you for drugs in you system)?
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The above is an extract from my fictional novel, "The random postings of Edame".
In the beginning was the word. And man could not handle the word, and the hearing of the word, and he asked God to take away his ears so that he might live in peace without having to hear words which might upset his equinamity or corrupt the unblemished purity of his conscience.
And God, hearing this desperate plea from His creation, wrinkled His mighty brow for a moment and then leaned down toward man, beckoning that he should come close so as to hear all that was about to be revealed to him.
"Fuck you," He whispered, and frowned upon the pathetic supplicant before retreating to His heavens.
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BladeLSD
Squirrel Master
Registered: 08/24/00
Posts: 809
Last seen: 11 days, 3 hours
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Re: Man pleads innocent in mushroom case [Re: HepC]
#1230996 - 01/19/03 10:08 AM (21 years, 3 months ago) |
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I think the 450 chocolates where individually chocolate dipped mushroooms, not 3.5 gram mushroom bars.
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We might get glimpse's of objectivity every now, and then, but we're so inherently locked in our temporal and corporeal selves that we're irrevocably locked into subjectivity
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Kelly
tripper
Registered: 01/18/03
Posts: 18
Loc: Alexandria, Virginia
Last seen: 21 years, 2 months
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 Re: Man pleads innocent in mushroom case [Re: viscid]
#1232258 - 01/19/03 07:52 PM (21 years, 2 months ago) |
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I don't think it was right for the police to check the boys room after he overdosed. Unfortunately if the police have any reason to believe that you have drugs in your house or on you they can do whatever they want (with the proper permits). 
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"Sleep, those little slices of death, how I loath thee."
-Edgar Allan Poe
"Never be bought and never be sold.:
-Anonymous
-Daytripper
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neuro
Phytophiliac
Registered: 08/10/99
Posts: 6,633
Loc: Rigel 7
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Re: Man pleads innocent in mushroom case [Re: Kelly]
#1236525 - 01/21/03 10:08 AM (21 years, 2 months ago) |
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Back a few years ago, almost 7 now i guess, my sister was addicted to heroin and was seaking treatment. She was given a whole regimen of drugs clonidine patches and such, along with an antagonist.
One night she came home and my mother had suspected her of using, and asked her to take the antagonist. My sister, the bullhead moron she is, took the pill anyway to show she hadn't done any heroin. About twenty-minutes after taking the pill she came back out, and said she something's wrong and promptly collapsed on the floor with shallow breathing. My mom woke me up, i was an EMT at the time, and i came out to see what was wrong. Helped treat her best i could until paramedics arrived with their drugs. The cops came. They insisted that they search her room for drugs under the guise of charging her and forcing her to get help by court order (or probably cold turkey jail time), but had to ask my mother first... she consented but they found nothing.
Good thing they didn't look around the entire house or into my room or i'da been good and fucked too.
I suppose this kid should probably get a good lawyer, since if nothing was obviously laying around in the open for them to see and the roommate didn't consent to a search then they could probably get off or have their jail time reduced or just pay fines or whatever.
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Anonymous
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Re: Man pleads innocent in mushroom case [Re: Kelly]
#1237203 - 01/21/03 02:12 PM (21 years, 2 months ago) |
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Unfortunatly all the police need, once they are "invited" into your house is probable cause. Anything in plain sight would be cause to search the whole house. I think the best thing would be to get out of the house. Drive your friend to the hospital, or meet the cops out in the yard with him. Do not let them in the house without a warrant. If you invite them in they don't need one cause almost anything can be probable cause in front of the right judge.
AWG
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero
Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 2 months, 7 days
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Re: Man pleads innocent in mushroom case [Re: Edame]
#1239732 - 01/22/03 11:13 AM (21 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
[Can somone clarify whether or not you can be arrested in the US after you have consumed an illegal drug (like if you take yourself to the hospital for help, can they arrest you for drugs in you system)?
If you are just out wandering in public, you could be arrested for public intoxication, or disturbing the peace, or trespassing, etc. I don't believe
they can charge you with drug possession just because you have something in your system.
If you are going to the hospital, and they pull you over, they can still get you with a driving under the influence or while intoxicated, etc.
If you are at the hospital, then you are fairly safe. This probably differs from state to state. Most places don't like forcing hospitals to report to the police because it discourages people from using the hospital in life and death overdose cases.
If you really want to know, ask a criminal attorney in your area.
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Just another spore in the wind.
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mjshroomer
Sage
Registered: 07/21/99
Posts: 13,774
Loc: gone with my shrooms
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Re: Man pleads innocent in mushroom case [Re: Edame]
#1245667 - 01/24/03 09:14 AM (21 years, 2 months ago) |
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I had a friend who shot too much coke. The ambuklance came and the police, but they did not search his room. They stablized him, asked him a few questions and then left. He told them what he was doing.
Four days later he moved to another state out of fear of prosecution.
mj
A great post. I wioll add that to my grapevine section.
mj
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TripsAreForKids
addict
Registered: 04/23/01
Posts: 465
Loc: Not In The US
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Re: Man pleads innocent in mushroom case [Re: viscid]
#1247674 - 01/25/03 08:39 AM (21 years, 2 months ago) |
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WoW!
He is sooooooooooooooooooo fucked.
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Everything posted above was out of fun, none should be taken serious. I am currently under the influence so take that into consideration.
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socratesmind
old hand
Registered: 02/22/02
Posts: 1,193
Loc: in your house :)
Last seen: 17 years, 8 months
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Re: Man pleads innocent in mushroom case [Re: Seuss]
#1250725 - 01/26/03 03:29 PM (21 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
If you are just out wandering in public, you could be arrested for public intoxication, or disturbing the peace, or trespassing, etc. I don't believe
they can charge you with drug possession just because you have something in your system.
I would agree with Seuss cause if so we'd all be guilty of DMT intoxification.
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Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded.
- Abraham Lincoln: Speech in the Illinois House of Representatives, Dec 18, 1840.
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Anonymous
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Re: Man pleads innocent in mushroom case [Re: socratesmind]
#1276892 - 02/04/03 05:49 AM (21 years, 2 months ago) |
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They cant what do they charge you with and how much
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Prisoner#1
Even Dumber ThanAdvertized!
Registered: 01/22/03
Posts: 193,665
Loc: Pvt. Pubfag NutSuck
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Re: Man pleads innocent in mushroom case [Re: fee]
#1280417 - 02/05/03 04:04 AM (21 years, 2 months ago) |
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They can charge you with anything....making the charges stick is a different story
Example....My Younger brother was arrested and charged with ' loitering for the purposes of drug activity' . they searched his truck, him, and his friends.
The Prosecutor stated that it means he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.... I assisted him in filing a lawsuit against the county for a civil rights infringemt, preventing him from the 'right to free travel'....there were no signs in front of the neighborhood stating it was and active drug area....case was dropped
Prisoner#1
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