Food and Drug Law Commons^™

From Streets To Stats: A Statistical Analysis Of The Quantity Of Illegal Narcotics Seized In The United States, Zachary T. Strickland

Tenor of Our Times

This study aims to determine how seven different variables affect the total quantity of illegal narcotics seized. These seven variables include four dichotomous and three continuous variables, each striving to teach readers how they relate to the quantity of narcotics seized across specific states. My goal for this project is to figure out if there is any relationship to help law enforcement fight the war on drugs. With the continuing apparent rise of this war, this study is crucial in determining potential relationships between a state's characteristics and the quantity of illegal narcotics they forcibly take possession of. I further …

Fair Lending For Cannabis Banking Justice, Benjamin T. Seymour

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform Caveat

This Comment offers a fair lending solution to promote racial equity in cannabis banking reform: amend the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to ensure individuals previously arrested, charged, or convicted for selling, cultivating, or possessing marijuana will not therefore be precluded from loans to start legal cannabis businesses. Given disparities in the criminal enforcement of marijuana laws, this amendment would provide racial justice benefits, while also encouraging entrepreneurship. As a market-based social justice effort, this amendment offers a bipartisan approach to one of the most vexing and contentious issues in marijuana banking reform.

Part II of this Comment briefly surveys the …

Researching Marijuana Law, Seth Quidachay-Swan

Law Librarian Scholarship

This article provides a brief overview of the current legal framework governing the regulation of marijuana at the federal and state levels in the United States. It also provides an overview of the state of Michigan’s current regulatory framework and resources for attorneys interested in learning more about marijuana regulation.

State Regulatory Responses To The Prescription Opioid Crisis: Too Much To Bear?, Lars Noah

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

In order to prevent further overuse of prescription opioids, states have adopted a variety of strategies. This article summarizes the growing use of prescription drug monitoring programs, crackdowns on “pill mills,” prohibitions on the use of particularly hazardous opioids, limitations on the duration and dosage of prescribed opioids, excise taxes, physician education and patient disclosure requirements, public awareness campaigns, and drug take-back programs. Although occasionally challenged on constitutional grounds, including claims of federal preemption under the Supremacy Clause, discrimination against out-of-state businesses under the dormant Commerce Clause doctrine, and interference with rights of commercial free speech, this article evaluates the …

Response To 'Reverse Al Capone-Ism' And The Tax Treatment Of Marijuana Businesses, Douglas A. Kahn, Howard J. Bromberg

Other Publications

Mr. Silverberg’s comment stresses that the proponents of the legalization of marijuana have not been able to convince Congress to legalize it, and so it is appropriate for Congress to penalize trafficking in that drug. Apparently, he sees our contention that the penalty adopted in I.R.C. § 280E is irrational and contravenes established punitive jurisprudence as a backdoor attempt to accomplish indirectly, by weakening the penalties on the marijuana businesses, what has not been able to be accomplished by those seeking its federal legalization. That was not the motive for our proposal and is not a fair reading of our …

Response To Dude, Where's My Deduction?, Douglas A. Kahn, Howard J. Bromberg

Other Publications

Mr. Pullin’s thesis is that marijuana should be excluded from § 280E when it is operated legally under state law. However, his preferred solution is that the federal government remove marijuana from Schedules I and II of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 (CSA), thereby legalizing it for federal law purposes. Either action would exclude the marijuana business from § 280E.

A Higher Authority: Canada’S Cannabis Legalization In The Context Of International Law, Antonia Eliason, Robert Howse

Michigan Journal of International Law

Part I of this Article provides an overview of some of the key terms and provisions of Canada’s Cannabis Act. Part II looks at the Cannabis Act in the context of the International Drug Conventions, examining how the various convention provisions might apply, looking first at the Single Convention and then at the 1988 Convention and how that convention fits with Canadian constitutional provisions. Part III focuses on the international human rights framework and how the Cannabis Act might be viewed as compatible with international human rights law even where incompatible with the International Drug Conventions. This Part also offers …

Telemedicine Is The New Narcotics Candy Store: Teladoc Opens The Floodgates For The Unrestricted Sale Of Dangerous Drugs, Madeleine Rosuck

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

Notice And Standing In The Fourth Amendment: Searches Of Personal Data, Jennifer Daskal

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

In at least two recent cases, courts have rejected service providers' capacity to raise Fourth Amendment claims on behalf of their customers. These holdings rely on longstanding Supreme Court doctrine establishing a general rule against third parties asserting the Fourth Amendment rights of others. However, there is a key difference between these two recent cases and those cases on which the doctrine rests. The relevant Supreme Court doctrine stems from situations in which someone could take action to raise the Fourth Amendment claim, even if the particular thirdparty litigant could not. In the situations presented by the recent cases, by …

A Liberal Dilemma: Respecting Autonomy While Also Protecting Inchoate Children From Prenatal Substance Abuse., Andrew J. Weisberg, Frank E. Vandervort

Articles

Substance abuse is a significant social problem in America. It is estimated that some eighteen million Americans have an alcohol abuse problem and that almost five million have a drug abuse problem. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, substance abuse costs some $700 billion per year Substance abuse is a major contributor to child maltreatment. It is estimated that between one- and two-thirds of cases in which children enter foster care are linked to parental substance abuse. Unfortunately, this may be an underestimate as recent research suggests that many cases, particularly cases in which children have been exposed …

Disciplining Globalization: International Law, Illegal Trade, And The Case Of Narcotics, Chantal Thomas

Chantal Thomas

No abstract provided.

The 1988 U.N. Convention Against Illicit Traffic In Narcotic Drugs And Psychotropic Substances - A Ten Year Perspective: Is International Cooperation Merely Illusory?, Jimmy Gurule

Jimmy Gurule

On the ten-year anniversary of the adoption of the 1988 U.N. Drug Convention, this Article analyzes whether signatory- parties have complied with the duties and obligations imposed thereunder, and, in particular, whether the Convention has enhanced international cooperation in narcotics enforcement. Part I of this Article examines the legal obligations and duties imposed under the 1988 U.N. Drug Convention, with special emphasis on the provisions aimed at criminalizing money laundering and at forfeiture of illicit drug proceeds and instrumentalities of narcotics trafficking. Additionally, Part I examines the requirement that parties afford one another the "widest measure of mutual legal assistance …

Investing In Cannabis: Inconsistent Government Regulation And Constraints On Capital, Adrian A. Ohmer

Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review

This note’s focus is on the future of investing in the growing legalized cannabis industry. In Part II, it will provide a brief history of federal and state regulation of cannabis. Part III will discuss the current role of the federal government in regulating the cannabis industry. Part IV will explore the current avenues of access to capital for the cannabis industry. Lastly, Part V will provide suggestions for the federal government and state governments to reduce investment risk that exists in the cannabis industry.

Every High Has A Low: A Pragmatic Approach To The War On Drugs, Mark Garibyan

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform Caveat

One of the lasting vestiges of Richard Nixon’s presidency is the infamous “War on Drugs,” a forty-year-old effort aimed at curtailing “illicit drug consumption and transactions in America.” Although the goal behind the policy—a reduction in the rate of substance abuse—may be altruistic, the War on Drugs has dismally failed to achieve its goals and has exacerbated existing problems. Specifically, laws dealing with crack cocaine result in a “heavily disproportionate impact on black defendants;” in 2008 “blacks comprised 79.8 percent of those convicted for crack cocaine-related offenses,” whereas “whites comprised only 10.4 percent.” More generally, these laws illustrate a fundamental …

Transplant Candidates And Substance Use: Adopting Rational Health Policy For Resource Allocation, Erin Minelli, Bryan A. Liang

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Organ transplant candidates are often denied life saving organs on account of their medical marijuana drug use. Individuals who smoke medicinal marijuana are typically classified as substance abusers, and ultimately deemed ineligible for transplantation, despite their receipt of the drug under a physician's supervision and prescription. However, patients who smoke cigarettes or engage in excessive alcohol consumption are routinely considered for placement on the national organ transplant waiting list. Transplant facilities have the freedom to regulate patient selection criteria with minimal oversight. As a result, the current organ allocation system in the United States is rife with inconsistencies and results …

A Government Of Limited Powers, Carl E. Schneider

Articles

Roscoe C. Filburn owned a small farm in Ohio where he raised poultry, dairy cows, and a modest acreage of winter wheat. Some wheat he fed his animals, some he sold, and some he kept for his family's daily bread. The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 limited the wheat Mr. Filburn could grow without incurring penalties, but his 1941 crop exceeded those limits. Mr. Filburn sued. He said Claude Wickard, the Secretary of Agriculture, could not enforce the AAI's limits because Congress lacked authority to regulate wheat grown for one's own use. He reasoned: In our federal system, the states …

Disciplining Globalization: International Law, Illegal Trade, And The Case Of Narcotics, Chantal Thomas

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This Article is the first in a series of studies of the globalization of illicit markets. My theses are as follows: First, the increase in international trade in illicit products and services parallels the growth in international trade more generally that accompanies the phenomenon of globalization. Second, at the same time that most international trade law has moved toward a posture of liberalization, there has been a movement to strengthen the prohibition and punishment of trade in illicit transactions. Third, the mechanisms that have developed to regulate this prohibition constitute a significant development in the international legal order.

Disciplining Globalization: International Law, Illegal Trade, And The Case Of Narcotics, Chantal Thomas

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article is the first in a series of studies of the globalization of illicit markets. My theses are as follows: First, the increase in international trade in illicit products and services parallels the growth in international trade more generally that accompanies the phenomenon of globalization. Second, at the same time that most international trade law has moved toward a posture of liberalization, there has been a movement to strengthen the prohibition and punishment of trade in illicit transactions. Third, the mechanisms that have developed to regulate this prohibition constitute a significant development in the international legal order.

Going To Pot, Carl E. Schneider

Articles

In several earlier columns, I suggested that judges are usually poorly placed to make good biomedical policy, not least because the law so rarely offers them direct and cogent guidance. Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit proffered a new example of this old problem. In 1996, California's voters approved Proposition 215. Its "Compassionate Use Act of 1996" provided -that a patient "who possesses or cultivates marijuana for the personal medical purposes of the patient upon the written or oral recommendation or approval of a physician" committed no crime.

Extraditing Mexican Nationals In The Fight Against International Narcotics Crimes, Joshua S. Spector

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In recent years, Mexican narcotics trafficking has become a major threat to the security of the Americas. Mexican narco-traffickers have used their wealth and violence to corrupt political and judicial systems and avoid effective prosecution or penalty in Mexican courts. Historically, Mexico has refused to extradite its nationals in reliance on Mexican law prohibiting the extradition of nationals in all but "exceptional" cases. This Note argues that Mexico should take a step toward controlling the cross-border narcotics trade and recognize international drug trafficking as an "exceptional" crime. Upon recognizing narcotics crimes as "exceptional," Mexico should then begin extraditing Mexican narco-traffickers …

The 1988 U.N. Convention Against Illicit Traffic In Narcotic Drugs And Psychotropic Substances - A Ten Year Perspective: Is International Cooperation Merely Illusory?, Jimmy Gurule

Journal Articles

On the ten-year anniversary of the adoption of the 1988 U.N. Drug Convention, this Article analyzes whether signatory- parties have complied with the duties and obligations imposed thereunder, and, in particular, whether the Convention has enhanced international cooperation in narcotics enforcement. Part I of this Article examines the legal obligations and duties imposed under the 1988 U.N. Drug Convention, with special emphasis on the provisions aimed at criminalizing money laundering and at forfeiture of illicit drug proceeds and instrumentalities of narcotics trafficking. Additionally, Part I examines the requirement that parties afford one another the "widest measure of mutual legal assistance …

When Discretion Leads To Distortion: Recognizing Pre-Arrest Sentence-Manipulation Claims Under The Federal Sentencing Guidelines, Jeffrey L. Fisher

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that sentence manipulation should be a legally viable partial defense - a defense that does not warrant complete exoneration, but does warrant a reduced sentence when the government's investigative techniques place a quantity of drugs before the court that overrepresents the defendant's culpability, or individual blameworthiness. Part I describes the policies and objectives that underlie the Guidelines, but then demonstrates how the rigid application of quantity-based sentencing provisions can lead to sentence manipulation that thwarts these goals, particularly the goal of sentencing according to culpability. Part II describes how courts have responded to sentence manipulation claims. It …

Beyond The War On Drugs: Overcoming A Failed Public Policy, Kenneth R. Hillier

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Beyond the War on Drugs: Overcoming a Failed Public Policy by Steven Wisotsky

Narrowing The Scope Of Civil Drug Forfeiture: Section 881, Substantial Connection And The Eighth Amendment, James B. Speta

Michigan Law Review

This Note offers two justifications for narrowing the scope of section 881 forfeiture. Part I argues that courts should apply the substantial connection test to section 881 forfeitures. This Part analyzes the statute using the traditional tools of statutory interpretation. While the text of the statute seems to support the broadest possible interpretation, the legislative history and context of adoption suggest that the substantial connection test is consistent with Congressional intent. In amending section 881, subsequent Congresses have favored application of the substantial connection test. Consistent with this narrower reading, present strategy in the "war on drugs" focuses stiff penalties …

The Heroin Solution, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A Review of The Heroin Solution by Arnold S. Trebach

The Hardest Drug: Heroin And Public Policy, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A Review of The Hardest Drug: Heroin and Public Policy by John Kaplan

Decriminalizing The Marijuana User: A Drafter's Guide, Richard J. Bonnie

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The article does not discuss the arguments in favor of decriminalization, a matter which the author' and others have covered elsewhere. Nor does the article consider the even more difficult questions involved in a legislative decision to legalize the drug and authorize its distribution for nonmedical uses. International obligations, federal law, and current political realities preclude enactment of a regulatory approach toward the availability of marijuana, including any variant of the so-called alcohol model. Although a state conceivably could repeal its laws against cultivation and distribution of marijuana, including only the federal prohibitions in effect, such an overt departure from …

Narcotics Offenders And The Internal Revenue Code: Sheathing The Section 6851 Sword, John M. Fite

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Note first will analyze the Internal Revenue Code provisions supporting the current crackdown by the IRS on suspected narcotics dealers. Secondly, it will examine the split in the federal circuit courts of appeal on the issues of the availability of Tax Court review of an assessment made pursuant to a section 6851 termination of a taxable year and the availability of equitable or statutory protections to prevent the seizure and sale of property belonging to the taxpayer. Lastly, a discussion of the propriety of such conduct by the IRS and its constitutionality in light of recent Supreme Court decisions …

Toward An International System Of Drug Control, Louis Lessem

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

By any measure the ongoing explosion in the abuse and trafficking of illicit drugs must be viewed as alarming. The past few years have seen a dramatic upsurge in the use of heroin and other opiates, the re-emergence of cocaine as a popular drug, and expansion of the use and availability of synthetic and psychotropic substances, and, perhaps of greatest international concern, the penetration of illicit narcotics into markets hitherto relatively free from drug involvement. Western Europe, Canada, and most recently the Soviet Union1 have reported the growth of drug-consuming populations. At the same time, there has been an awakened …