What amount of cocaine is legal to possess?

Zero

Zero in container. Paper money with “background” levels is not in container.

@john65pennington: The answer may truly be zero but in this case there is yet another law which isn’t being enforced as many people have small amounts (up to a milligram per bill but normally micro-grams) on paper money. If the true answer is really zero this is also an unreasonable law. There is enough cocaine in an armored car to get high if you (uneconomically) extracted it. If the cocaine on your bills was LSD the amount in a typical bill could get you high without extraction.

@Tropical_Willie: “Zero in container.” <== so take the money out of your wallet (a container). Clearly a milligram or more may remain and likely many micro-grams. If the answer really is zero this law is unreasonable and certainly isn’t being enforced.

Provided what’s on the bill isn’t considered usable and is not deemed present with the intention of transporting or restoring it, it’s legal. once you separate it, it’s usable therefore illegal.

At least that’s my guess on how they consider it, after all legislating it across a medium so frequently used, passed, and difficult to manage is much, much more difficult.

@wonderingwhy: So it is legal to knowingly possess cocaine in any amount so long as it doesn’t pass a vague and undefined “reasonably usable” test?

I wouldn’t try to sell that to a judge, but if you can’t use it for it’s intended purpose it seems like it would be hard to prosecute. Keeping the law “interpretable” gives them room to prosecute though.

There is cocaine on money????

negative 329g?
i think a legal amount would be non-existent…

According to this source, “Federal and state drug possession laws make it a crime to willfully possess illegal controlled substances such as marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine….”

Perhaps possessing currency without any other evidence of use or possession doesn’t constitute “willful possession”.

In the above context, my guess is that the amount that would be illegal to possess could vary from visible to detectable by any means authorized.

@wonderingwhy: I feel that laws should be written in such a way that I can follow them instead of in such a way that I am always in violation but that’s OK because the law isn’t enforced. If ZERO can be interpreted to mean all sorts of different things other than zero… is this a good idea? If you want to be vague why not say “little” or “small” instead of specifying an exact amount? Why pretend to be exact and then ignore it.

@Brian1946: I have money. It has been circulated therefore it has cocaine on it. I am willfully possessing it. I think I am in violation of the law as written. You don’t have a problem with this?

I hate that “willful” stuff, it demands you prove intent (what the person is/was thinking) so short of admission, everything else is circumstantial. Sure the person might be the biggest importer of coke on the west coast but can you prove willful possession of the particular amount in question without relying on circumstantial evidence?

Then again without it, half the people in prison probably wouldn’t be there.

@escapedone7: Yes. People roll up bills and snort cocaine which then sticks to the bill and transfers to other bills. There is a shocking amount on US currency.

I feel that laws should be written in such a way that I can follow them instead of in such a way that I am always in violation but that’s OK because the law isn’t enforced. If ZERO can be interpreted to mean all sorts of different things other than zero? Is this a good idea? If you want to be vague why not say “little” or “small” instead of specifying an exact amount? Why pretend to be exact and then ignore it.

circumstantial law, x is illegal unless y and/or z are present.

Really? 0

@slick44: Really 0! everyone is in violation (willfully), and then it isn’t enforced!!!
...
The zero should go so that people can actually comply with the law and the law can actually be enforced as written.

@malevolentbutticklish

“I have money. It has been circulated therefore it has cocaine on it. I am willfully possessing it. I think I am in violation of the law as written. You don’t have a problem with this?”

1. Having been in circulation doesn’t prove that all currency has cocaine on it.

2. It’s reasonable to assume that you willfully possess the money, but what proof would law enforcement have that you obtained that money with the intention of possessing the coke that may or may not be on it?

I dont no. Bring the drug dogs in and see if they hit on your money. theres your answer.

@malevolentbutticklish are you saying that everyone who possesses money that has traces of cocaine on it should be arrested? Because I’m in willful possession of money, I can’t help if some nipplehead used it to snort coke before I got it. Generally out of the ATM, by the way.

@Trillian… nipplehead? thats funny. hahahahahahahahaha

@Trillian @Brian1946: First off willfully possessing something doesn’t mean it was your primary motivation. If I purchase a car knowing it has a dead battery it is not my motivation to purchase a dead battery but I still willfully posses it. I am saying I find it objectionable that we have laws which are unenforced and objectionable that we have laws which would be unreasonable to enforce as written.

@Brian1946: However, we can still show an example in which possessing the cocaine is willful even under a revised version of the definition. Imagine if someone obtained a bill for for the purposes of a classroom demonstration showing cocaine is on the bill. This person clearly had the cocaine willfully under any definition. I think the ZERO portion of the law is flawed.

The trick is as soon as yo pick up your yayo you hide it up your nose and go hang out at a loud club so the police can’t find you. Seriously though a big WTF to your question.

Crack is wack. Get Help.

Claw Out.

In Portugal and Columbia you can have 2 grams or less which is considered a personal amount and is not illegal, although if the cops feel you are addicted they can force you into mandatory rehab (in Portugal they can, anyway).

@drClaw: “Crack is wack. Get Help.” <== you didn’t read the thread did you?

@syzygy2600: This would certainly avoid the issue altogether. Mexico wanted to do something like this but didn’t due to US pressure.

I believe if you’ve got less than a nose-full you’re ok….. sniff….. sniff

@JeffVader: I think in practice this is about how it works in the USA but the law is written differently. I would like to see the law and practice in sync so that people can actually follow the law.

@malevolentbutticklish It would clear a few things up wouldnt it!

My feeling is that you are splitting hairs here. The amounts of cocaine present on bills has to be negligible. Then, you’d have to figure out some way to extract it to make it usable. If you’ve got an amount of money equal to that sitting in an armored car, well, wouldn’t it be easier to just buy a bag of coke than try to extract it all?

Anyway, my point is that I doubt the government is too worried about people getting coke from dollar bills. I doubt there are many people that bother. Again, negligible amounts that no one can prove who put it there in the first place.

@MissAnthrope: It isn’t splitting hairs to say I would like to be able to follow the law as written. It isn’t splitting hairs to say the law shouldn’t get “ZERO” confused with “a little bit.” It isn’t splitting hairs to say the government shouldn’t make unreasonable laws specifying an exact quantity and then not enforce them.

@malevolentbutticklish

Are you trying to validate why it okay to be a tweeker?

@Tropical_Willie: NO. I am not “trying to validate why it okay to be a tweeker”. No, I do not need help with my crack addiction. No, I am not addicted to crack. No, I never was addicted to crack. No, I am not addicted to cocaine. No, I never was addicted to cocaine… and so on and so forth.

@malevolentbutticklish so basically you are trying to get help for your crack addiction right?

@malevolentbutticklish

“If I purchase a car knowing it has a dead battery it is not my motivation to purchase a dead battery but I still willfully posses it.”

As I implied before, ordinarily you don’t know that currency has coke on it, so therefore you’re not expected to assume that it does, therefore that can’t be construed as willful possession.

If this issue means something to you beyond an internet discussion, there’s a phone number listed in the link that I posted.

Also, you could call the narcotics division of your PD and ask them if you can report someone for possessing coke if they possess currency. ;-)