https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/401/kansas.shtml

Police in Kansas can already charge people with possessing, selling, or manufacturing drugs, but that isn't enough for some law enforcement officials and legislators. A three-year effort to make it a crime to have drugs in one's bloodstream or urine is moving in the Kansas legislature.

The notion got a hearing Wednesday at a meeting of the legislature's Special Judicial Committee, where proponents argued it would be another tool for police in their endless war on drug users. "If someone is caught having ingested or injected, they can be charged with possession," explained Rep. Kathe Decker (R-Clay Center), who is pushing the proposal. "It just gives more teeth to law enforcement."

Why should drug possession be a crime but not having taken drugs? asked Kyle Smith, deputy director of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. "If it's illegal for one, why not the other?" Even if the measure passed, Smith said, he doubted there would be a rash of drug arrests because possession is seen as a low priority crime. "Don't assume there will be thousands of cases," he said.

But civil libertarians and criminal defense attorneys raised numerous objections to the proposal. People who fail work or school drug tests could be subject to prosecution, they worried. Using drug tests in an effort to bring criminal charges could violate Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination, said Sen. Phil Journey (R-Haysville).

The proposal will "lead to more prison time and more people being prosecuted, not treated," warned Sal Inagliata of the Kansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

While the Topeka Capitol-Journal reported that Kansas would be the "first in the nation" to pass such a law, the newspaper was wrong. South Dakota has had a similar law in effect since 2001. It was upheld by the South Dakota Supreme Court in a February 2004 ruling.

	Please make a generous donation to support Drug War Chronicle in 2007!

PERMISSION to reprint or redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle (formerly The Week Online with DRCNet is hereby granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and, where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we request notification for our records, including physical copies where material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network, P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202) 293-8344 (fax), e-mail [email protected]. Thank you.

Articles of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of the DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Out from the Shadows HEA Drug Provision Drug War Chronicle Perry Fund DRCNet en Español Speakeasy Blogs About Us Home Why Legalization? NJ Racial Profiling Archive Subscribe Donate DRCNet em Português Latest News Drug Library Search special friends links: SSDP - Flex Your Rights - IAL - Drug War Facts StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet) 1623 Connecticut Ave., NW, 3rd Floor, Washington DC 20009 Phone (202) 293-8340 Fax (202) 293-8344 [email protected]