Minnesota court: Bong water considered an illegal drug
Yesterday, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that bong water can be considered a controlled substance, and that people caught in possession of said water can be prosecuted for possession of a drug mixture. Note: I am not making this up.
The ruling stemmed from a 2007 home search in which authorities seized, among other items, a glass bong containing about two-and-a-half tablespoons of water that tested positive for the presence of methamphetamine.
So what does this mean? According to Judge Paul Anderson, who authored the dissenting opinion, if the bong water is considered a drug mixture, the crime is a first-degree drug offense, and a first-time offender could serve seven years and two months in prison. If the bong water were considered paraphernalia, the same offender would be given a $300 fine for a petty misdemeanor conviction that would not go on their record.
Seven years and two months. For bong water.
Read the decision here.
Tagged with: bong water and court and home search and Mike Meno and Minnesota by the author
49 comments
LOL!
This is both funny and extremely sad. This has to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Good thing I always clean my bong water every time I use my bong.
How is this supposed to be enforceable? What if I buy a brand new bong, and fill it with clean water, Is it still illegal bong water? Who is drinking bong water regularly for the meth? Rationality please.
It’s proof that idiots can be voted as Minnesota State Supreme Court judges.
I guess he started out as being an ambitious district attorney who hate pot smokers. A gateway to political insanity.
are you kidding me? bong water, really. this has to be the dumbest thing i’ve ever heard! to waste 7 years of someone’s life for bong water. give me a break
Two steps forward, one step back. So frustrating…
Not sentenced to 7 year+, it was remanded. And it’s not bong water just because it’s in a bong, it’s because it tested for meth.
“Although a person may add “water” to a bong to facilitate the ingestion or inhalation of methamphetamine, a person does not add “water containing methamphetamine” to a bong to facilitate the ingestion or inhalation of methamphetamine.”
Presumably, just water would be considered part of paraphernalia, not a drug mixture.
Wouldn’t drinking bong water nearly kill you? Isn’t meth-bong water even worse for you?!?! lol.
yeah I believe if they find meth in the water…then I understand….but if they make any marijuana related water illegal all I can say is thank goodness I dont live there and use vaporizors
W.T.F. Nothing better to do than spend tax payers money on bong water testing. I could piss away a whole lot less money for a lot better causes. I should become a politition and make my own rules as i go along. But then again, with only two and one half Tbls. of water they might have been mixing the meth and dumped it in the bong to hide it. As an ex abuser myself, I have hidden meth in worse places than that.
Mike,
Thank you for bringing this one to our attention. Although this is just bong water, it did include traces of meth (as you pointed out). Marijuana is clearly decriminalized in Minnesota, and (most) police wouldn’t have gone as far as this for bong water if it were Marijuana (or just Marijuana). However, the Police were already presented with methamphetamine in the case, and the bong water was most likely intended by the arresting officer(s) to supplement the existing evidence possession charge (and not tack on a first-degree possession charge). Although, that could be up for debate.
The ruling is clearly interpreting the language of what the Minnesota legislature drafted years ago to it’s most literal extent possible, which — from those of us who read the opinion — we know is clearly misguided. Those more-or-less arbitrary numbers used in the crafting of the original Minnesota law were never intended to count the non-illicit substances (such as water) in the conviction of a drug mixture offense.
The dissenting opinion was extremely laid out, and a great read. I wish the majority would have read the dissent of the minority before issuing their opinion.
CMH
so in minnesota you only get a $200 ticket and possibly sent to a drug program, just to swell numbers to justify these horrible drug laws, for 42.5 grams of weed…. but if you have a bong to smoke it out of, you go to jail…. does anyone else see the flawed logic here?
Mike, or whomever else can link me, can you tell me how the case against Marc Emory is doing? the last i heard is that he was still in Canadian police custody…did they extradict him? or did they finally realize that the USA judicial system is BS?
Drinking regular bong water won’t kill you, and it also won’t get you high. It does taste like $#!+ though. (knows from experience)
semi-related note: Criminal Justice Commission bill about to leave committee!
seems that judges and law enforcement have lost all hopes of compassion and just start throwing judgement upon people regardless of morals or marijuana knowledge. we surely need marijuana law reform.
It’s Minnesota… they elected that guy… Tim Pawlenty? What do you expect…
Oh by the way… wouldn’t you already have drugs in your bong or leftovers from your drugs, if you have bong water in your bong?
Oh, another by the way, people stay away from meth. That shit is bad…
The dissent is spot on. They have literally looked at a dictionary to determine their finding to see what constitutes a drug. A State Patrol K-9 officer is hardly “expert testimony” but just as Gov. Tim Pawlenty listened only to the law enforcement community in MN regarding the medical marijuana issue, so too do the MN Supreme Court Judges appointed by Pawlenty apparently.
Take note: MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty is looking to become President of the United States. THIS is justice in his grand vision, which is almost exclusively geared toward profiting large corporate interests. MN has become one of the nation’s top jailors under his tenure. Beware!
Just wait until they start adding the weight of the water to the total weight of CDS confiscated. Water is pretty heavy.
i gotta tell you…. ive been smoking weed for about 3 years… i have no desire to do any other drugs…. if it was offered to me i might to mushrooms… if i didnt have to drive… only because of my research on them…. anything else, forget about it… too much risk…. we seriously need to change our education on drugs because most of the gateway comes from misinformation in education
What if they are right…. What if we just stopped making all of our own decisions and let the govt. make them for us. Isn’t it contrast that makes the U.S. so unique? Why are we killling Contrast? Who has the right to judge humans? Perception is EVERYTHING, and NOTHING! Nothing I read or hear will affect the way I chose to live out my HAPPY beautiful life. This is just DRAMA and none of it really matters. just because some ink on paper says I can’t. remember there are more of us then the govt! isn’t this a Govt. by the people for the people? SPEAK UP! STOP HIDING AND LIVE!!!
Imagine: “Take note: MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty is looking to become President of the United States.”
Sooo ……. If indeed his intentions are indeed to be the next Puppet, oh excuse me, the next President of the U.S.A, then it’s up to the MJ community to discredit him at each and every turn.
Are you up to it? Hope so, or you’re just blowing hot air into an already Hot Air filled room. Find the dirt, exploit the dirt on this guy and Share the dirt over and over and over again.
thats got to be one of the saddest, most rediculous things I have ever heard of in this drug war. I feel sorry for whoever gets hit with that charge, cause it sounds like pure prohibitionist BS!!
LEGALIZE IT!!!
Ok, passing a law against bong water is stupid. Any trace of meth should get you shot because prison will give this person access to medical care that we will have to pay for. If you use meth your body starts breaking down from the poison chemicals it contains. Meth users are going to drive medical care costs through the roof. The meth user is choosing to die when they start using and have no respect for their body, much less for everyone around them that must deal with their poison trail that follows them for the rest of their life, what little they have left.
I struggle to stay alive each day from the damage done by the legal drugs I must take because cannabis is treated like it is the most dangerous plant on the planet. Did you say the meth charge was dismissed? I see meth labs on the news all the time and they say very little about it, but let someone get busted for cannabis and they talk about taking away kids, seizing property and giving out long jail terms. Where’s the justice?
Since drugs are now in river water (search: “drugs in water supply”) and cities get their water from rivers, city water is a “mixture” of illegal drugs, according to the absurd logic of this majority of four Minnesota Supreme Court judges. So – now that all of us living in Minnesota are criminals possessing “drug mixture” water in our homes and toilets – shall we wake up, end the abuse of government power, and repeal all laws criminalizing drugs possession?
For more discussion of this Minnesota case, and it’s excellent dissent, see my blog post:
Minnesota Court Waters Down Legal Definition of Illegal Drugs: Toilet Water Now Criminal to Possess
http://wp.me/pAFjr-2g
Bong water is no more than a filter and the wieght factor’s are unrealistic compared to trace amounts. You can get the same trace amounts in urine. Sounds like this state is needing to make some money. The movement in the Minnesota suprem court will fade after awhile and is just another notch in there stupid belt. The reality is that all man made chemicles such as meth, coke, heroin and the trusties of such chemicles will continualy infect the mmj communitys.
Say there are a bunch of children throwing rocks but one kid decides he wants to be a jack ass and throw a rock thru mr. Johnsons window. the child whom throws the rock gets the immediate grounding ,pay back the window , what have you. But, from that day on everyone knows who was with that kid when he threw the rock. Thats right even though you had no hand in it you still are marked as trouble maker. Now you don;t hang out with the that kid anymore or stop throwing rocks and eventually your rep gets better. The bad kids throwing rocks are always going to be there and the stereo typing around drugs will not end any time soon.
Education for the ignorent, Compassion for those who are suffering and Time. Over and over agian these simple element’s have proven themselves and have humbled those who make the laws.
O yea I agree with end the hypocrisy meth is bad bad bad, really bad
Bud from Ky. I was on meth, coke, tar and anything else I could get. I now raise three kids by myself. Kept the same job for over 7 years now and now a voice for med. mj. and being a single father. If I can turn my life around, any one can. I am living proof. Keep tokin and over grow big bro.
Please! Get all the facts…The bong in question was used for meth. The uh “users” frequently drink that water after use because unlike cannabis, some active ingredient stays behind. I’m sorry but the cops got this one right.
These prohibs still dont get it. They do anything they can to PUNISH a person for said drug use. METH IS BAD! Isnt said meth user already in a bad way? Way the hell do these idiot politicians think by making a persons life much worse its helping them? Really, its like kicking the shit out of a three legged dog because he cant run as fast as the rest of the dogs.
Ya good idea prohibs PHH! Keep wasting billions on arrests and further ruining a person, further ruing their family. NO NO NO! Lets not help, lets be judgemental , let those high moral standards show just how much an idiot politician you really are.
My god, this is supposed to be a compassionste society and what do we do? We take the most at risk, the weakest , an abuse them for their weakness. ( Gotta work HARD, pay high taxes just so the gov can be as wastful as possible, you cant be weak, you cant be lazy, the state needs you working and paying.) And you are punished for your weakness. You are punished for something they CANNOT controll! If they could, there would be no such thing as drug abuse.
If bong water that tests positve for drugs is a controlled substance mixture, what about urine from people who test positive for drugs. This is, by MN law, a drug mixture. I feel we should arrest everyone who has a positive drug test and measure the amount of urine they produced and prosecute them accordingly. 16 ounces of urine weighs approximately 480 grams. Shouldn’t have had those two cups of coffee before your test!!
We can put all the drug abusing scum away for life!!!
FFS don’t give the DEA any ideas #32!
Considering that cannabis is fat soluble and NOT water soluble this idiotic ruling shows that the powers that are have their heads in a warm and dark place when it comes to cannabis!
When I was in school we always had a contest. The first person to cough had to drink the bong water. Those were the best of times.
As for Minn., they must be related to the Bush. Pure evil.
Hey JRM, are you a big fat ass that looks just like Rush Limpballs?
this is what we get for letting un-educated police officers and lawyers (which i dare to call uneducated also) make decisions that DR.’s and SCIENTISTS make. they have forgetten what government is about. its about what we want not what they want and we need to remind them of that !!!!! be carefull people were becoming surrounded by dumbasses in office !!!
Sorry Cliff that you don’t understand sarcasm. I thought the cups of coffee part made it pretty clear. Next time I will put a disclaimer on my posts. “Alert this post may contain sarcasm”.
Oh the oral arguments for this case are available on line and will scare the daylights out of anyone with an ounce of reason when you realize the ignorance of these people that have such power over us.
Very unprofessional article here.
Traces of methamphetamine, end of discussion.
This is really stupid. But using a bong at all – let alone leaving the nasty water in it after you’re done – is also really stupid. Protect thy lungs and recycle your marijuana — vaporize!
As many illicit drugs are passed from the body in urine, much likely ends up in the toilet. Therefore, I suggest the supreme court judges lift the lid, shove their faces below the surface, and take a good, long hard look at suspect toilet water. In fact, said appliances may be major transit storage facilities in the “flow” of dangerous drugs. God, please help us save all the little children from drug-tainted toilet water! Sometimes, the word ludicrous falls short. These people have obviously lost their minds.
Heres a question:
If prohibs were able to “rid ” the world of drug use and drugs, who then would they hate. It is human nature to have some group to view as an enemy. Would it be gays, would it be alcoholics, chocoholic,sexaddicts, balcks, white, mexicans , indians, shall we go on. To me, those who must hate are the problem, not those of various nationalities, those who choose to use any drug ect ect. Is it time to stop the haters?They are few ,we are many.
if it were just normal bong water i wouldnt see the big deal, but the water tested positvie for meth…so in my opinion i dont think
this is unjustice or unfair.
Just because the decision centered around a case involving meth, there is no reason that this decision could not be applied in cannabis cases. Did people just read something different than I just read? Where does it say this is limited to cases involving meth?
Furthermore, to those saying “too bad” because its meth:
If meth were legal, would you do it?? So being OK with prohibitionist policies pertaining to one drug, but not with another is VERY hypocritical. After all, how many people argue the evils of alcohol versus cannabis? But are you calling for people to get arrested for alcohol consumption? Probably not.
In the transcript, the charge is officially listed as:
“charge alleged that Peck possessed 37.17 grams of bong water that tested positive for the presence of methamphetamine.”
I have no sympathy for anyone doing meth – however, I do worry about how this type of ruling can be mis-applied to everyone else.
They do not list amount of meth (how many parts per million, etc), just that “it tested positive” for the presence of meth.
According to CNN, 90 percent of paper money circulating in U.S. cities contains traces of cocaine.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/08/14/cocaine.traces.money/index.html
So according to this judge, all of us can now be charged with felony possession due to trace amounts of a controlled substance on the money in our wallets.
Also, if you buy a used bong, or ash tray for that matter, that had ever been used for drugs and you now had a flower growing in it, there will still be traces of drugs there whether or not you ever used it.
And they dont have to prove you used it, just that you possess it, and that it still “contains traces” of a drug, however minute.
Thats a little unsettling…
Can it possibly get any sillier? …and does ANYONE know ANYONE who would actually drink bong water? ( Okay…maybe if you give me a million dollars I’d drink it…but then maybe not…). Judge Anderson needs to be tied up and forced to drink 2 1/2 tablespoons of bong water…I’d bet (as soon as he was done vomiting) he’d reverse his decision…
WOW bong water really??, i mean seriously whats next?? ill tell you this when i read this piece i almost spat up my cherry pepsi mixed w/bong juice. whoops am i going away for 7 yrs now.
What a fucking joke, Fuck Tim Pawlenty hes a fuckin loser & a failure.
&&&& #32 Go fuck yourself.
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