I was reading about Barenaked Ladies singer Steve Page and his cocaine bust this morning and I noticed something.
He was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fourth degree, a class C felony in New York state. That’s a pretty complicated crime, I mused. I wonder how many degrees there are?
According to New York Penal Law Section 220, there are seven degrees of this particular offense and they vary in severity from serious felonies to slap on the hand misdemeanors. The particular degree that Page was charged with had a quantity requirement of at least one-eighth ounce of a narcotic drug (cocaine is defined as a narcotic in NY) to qualify, and he was no slouch at 0.314 oz.
The thing that really caught my eye, though, that was included in the list was possession of “a stimulant and said stimulant weighs one gram or more;” WTF?
Does that mean that in New York state you can be charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fourth degree if you are in possession of, let’s say, more than a 12-pack of Red Bull? Or, even scarier, 4 or 5 two-liter bottles of cola? How about this, a pound of Starbucks Espresso Roast would probably get you an intent to distribute charge tacked on as well.
Yankees… <shakes head>
Tags: Caffeine, Cocaine, New York Penal Code, Steve Page
