The Accidental Drug Trafficker

Reason ^ | August 30, 2006 | Jacob Sullum

[monday]

I think these prosecutors should be held to the same standard they think doctors should be held to.

That is to say, if they wrongfully prosecute an innocent man, regardless of whether or not they thought he was guilty, they should be convicted of wrongful prosecution and unlawful imprisonment and go to jail.

It's only fair.

[mugs99]

As long as the government can arbitrarily decide the quantity and type of substances doctors prescribe, then those doctors who are arrested for putting the needs of the patient above the needs of the politician are political prisoners.

[TruthNtegrity]

Read later

[L98Fiero]

Good comments.

[generally]

Excellent point!

On the flip side, I'd like those responsible (parole boards, judges, psychiatrists who testify that someone is "no longer a threat") for releasing violent criminals back into society to be held responsible for subsequent criminal actions.

[generally]

I'm about as anti-drug as a person can get, but if this article is accurate, I'll side with the doctor.

I generally avoid taking either prescription drugs or OTC stuff. I usually prefer to "gut it out," but if I or someone I loved was suffering from severe chronic pain, I'd want whatever relief was possible.

Punishing a doctor who in good faith provides that relief is itself a crime.

[sarasmom]

I am grateful that I do not suffer from any chronic pain.
I have such a low tolerance for "drugs" that I am unable to function in public on OTC antihistamines.
That status could change in an instant, due to disease or injury.
That said, I know two people who take large amounts of serious pain killing drugs, to enable them to merely endure the physical pain they constantly suffer.
I am also aware there are some physicians out there who "sell 'scripts" to drug abusers.
The prosecution in this case, as in seemingly endless others, overreached, and acted in a manner more suggestive of a witch hunt than of legal justice.
I'm glad they got smacked down.

[neverdem]

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[traviskicks]

ping (this may be redundent story)

[freepatriot32]

as someone on this thread suggested if the man is found not guilty at his second trial the persacuters should all go to jail for kidnapping and malicious prosecution

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[The Red Zone]

The doc was accused of a 1600 pill a day rx to one patient. I couldn't eat that many M&M's in a day. The pharmacist would have had to have a direct line to a poppy field in Afghanistan or sumfin. I think it's reasonable to ask for scientific evidence that a regimen is not vastly overprescribed, as one qualification of "good faith."

[The Red Zone]

I think it's reasonable to ask for scientific evidence that a regimen is not vastly overprescribed, as one qualification of "good faith." ... and that the patient in fact was consuming it all himself or herself

[microgood]

Juries should note this. The judges and prosecutors will try to force them to decide the way they want them to. Ultimately, if injustice occurs, the jury will be blamed for the injustice.

As a juror, ignore the prosecution and the judge's instruction and determine whether you can live with your decision. It never ceases to amaze me when jurors who follow instructions from the prosecutor and judges and realize they are those demonized.

Do not give into the judicial process and vote your conscience based on knowing the consequences of your decision.

[microgood]

The doc was accused of a 1600 pill a day rx to one patient.

Accused is the key word here. Based on what I have seen on this case I would have a hard time believing the sun rises in the East based on this prosecutor's antics. Their abuse of the entire judicial process makes them incredibly unworthy of any sort of credibility. Bottom line, these guys do not know how not to lie. Zero credibility as affirmed by the appeals court, which was outraged by this incredible abuse.

[The Red Zone]

this is why voir dire selects for sheeple

[The Red Zone]

well fine, so the defense will make the prosecution look like asses on a point like this if it's part of the "objective good faith" criterion. the gummint is so afraid of any objective standard, it can't bully its way around so much when there is a law spelling out concretely what is wrong and right.

[mugs99]

Accused is the key word here. Based on what I have seen on this case I would have a hard time believing the sun rises in the East based on this prosecutor's antics.

The appeals court judge didn't buy that one either!
.

[mugs99]

I think it's reasonable to ask for scientific evidence that a regimen is not vastly overprescribed, as one qualification of "good faith."

Medical experts testified that he did not overprescribe... This is a case of government playing doctor.
.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

The "War on Drugs" is doing more damage to society as a whole than the drugs do or would do in its absence.