2008 Woodie Awards
How to avoid drug problems
Opinion | 4/7/08
A lawyer, a baker, and an engineer go to a wake for their friend Tommy. As he stands over the open casket, the engineer remembers he owed Tommy $50 from their last poker game so he puts a $50 bill in Tommy's breast pocket. The baker also remembered that he owed Tommy $50 from an unpaid loan and he too put $50 in Tommy's pocket. The lawyer owed Tommy $50 so he wrote a check for $150, took the two fifties, and put the check in Tommy's pocket.
Lawyers like laws that make drugs illegal because violation of those laws makes lawyers money. If you want to keep lawyers hands out of your pocket, the solution is obvious.
The three most likely ways that you will get in trouble for using drugs are if you are in a car that is stopped for a traffic violation and an officer smells the odor of a nontraditional cigarette, if you are attending a boisterous party where the police are called, or if your dealer gets caught and rats you out.
If you are in a car that you own, you have a reasonable expectation of privacy and the police cannot search your car without probable cause. If, however, a police officer has a reasonable suspicion that one or more occupants of the car are armed and presently dangerous, the officer has the right to search the entire interior of the car and the occupants. Similarly, if one or more occupants of the car are being validly arrested, the officer also has the right to search the entire interior of the car. Of course, if the driver of the car gives permission to the police to search the car, they will do so.
So what should you do if you are stopped for a traffic ticket and the officer asks for permission to search your car? If you have anything in the car that you would not want the officer to see, smell or know about, do not consent. Unless the officer sees or smells something he will generally not be able to legally search the car. Sometimes, however, even if you refuse consent, if the officer is able to bring the "drug dog" to the car in a short period of time, and the dog "alerts" the officer, he will have sufficient probable cause to search your car. This rarely happens in urban areas but if you are coming back from the beach through some small town, the "drug dog" is bored and waiting for you.
Lawyers like laws that make drugs illegal because violation of those laws makes lawyers money. If you want to keep lawyers hands out of your pocket, the solution is obvious.
The three most likely ways that you will get in trouble for using drugs are if you are in a car that is stopped for a traffic violation and an officer smells the odor of a nontraditional cigarette, if you are attending a boisterous party where the police are called, or if your dealer gets caught and rats you out.
If you are in a car that you own, you have a reasonable expectation of privacy and the police cannot search your car without probable cause. If, however, a police officer has a reasonable suspicion that one or more occupants of the car are armed and presently dangerous, the officer has the right to search the entire interior of the car and the occupants. Similarly, if one or more occupants of the car are being validly arrested, the officer also has the right to search the entire interior of the car. Of course, if the driver of the car gives permission to the police to search the car, they will do so.
So what should you do if you are stopped for a traffic ticket and the officer asks for permission to search your car? If you have anything in the car that you would not want the officer to see, smell or know about, do not consent. Unless the officer sees or smells something he will generally not be able to legally search the car. Sometimes, however, even if you refuse consent, if the officer is able to bring the "drug dog" to the car in a short period of time, and the dog "alerts" the officer, he will have sufficient probable cause to search your car. This rarely happens in urban areas but if you are coming back from the beach through some small town, the "drug dog" is bored and waiting for you.
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