State v. Strong

245 N.W.2d 277, 90 S.D. 652, 1976 S.D. LEXIS 251
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 3, 1976
DocketFile 11585
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 245 N.W.2d 277 (State v. Strong) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Strong, 245 N.W.2d 277, 90 S.D. 652, 1976 S.D. LEXIS 251 (S.D. 1976).

Opinion

COLER, Justice.

This appeal was taken from a conviction of the crime of distributing marijuana contrary to the provisions of SDCL 39-17-88. We affirm.

Appellant was charged with having sold, on or about May 10, 1973, approximately five pounds of marijuana to an undercover agent, one Naomi Church, also known as Cathy Clark. Appellant claims (1) that the statute under which he was charged was unconstitutional by reason of (a) a defective title to the act, (b) the unreasonable statutory classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug, SDCL 39-17-57(7), and (c) the unlawful delegation of legislative authority to the then existing office of commissioner of drug and substances control and, further, (2) that the trial court erred; (a) in allowing the undercover agent to testify; (b) in in *654 structing the jury in the manner it did on the issue of entrapment; (c) by limiting cross-examination of the undercover agent; and (d) in giving a special instruction in response to a question from the jury after it had retired for deliberation.

The issue of the defect in the title to Chapter 229 of the Session Laws of 1970, the principal source of SDCL 39-17, and the subsequent codification of the law by Chapter 14 of the Session Laws of 1972 (see SDCL 2-16-13 et seq.), and, further, the construction and effect of SDCL 2-16-15, is controlled by the decision of this court in State v. Barr, 1975, 89 S.D. 280, 232 N.W.2d 257 and State v. Murphy, 1975, 89 S.D. 486, 234 N.W.2d 54, and deserves no further comment. The title to the act is no longer subject to challenge.

Appellant, as his second challenge to the constitutionality of the Drug and Substances Control Act, sets forth the claim that the classification of marijuana as a class I drug or substance, SDCL 39-17-55 to 39-17-57, inclusive, is unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious, and thus violated his rights under the equal protection clauses of the South Dakota and United States Constitutions. South Dakota Constitution, Article VI, Section 18; United States Constitution Amendment 14.

The argument advanced by appellant is the same argument which was presented to and adopted by the Illinois Supreme Court in People v. McCabe, 49 Ill.2d 338, 275 N.E.2d 407. In essence, the contention is that the classification of marijuana with numerous other controlled drugs and substances, many of which are in the category of hard drugs, without providing penalties which are commensurate with their narcotic effect or propensity for addiction is in violation of the equal protection clause. This claimed lack of uniformity lies in the fact that a conviction for a first offense violation of SDCL 39-17-88, covering both Schedule I and Schedule II controlled drugs or substances, carries with it a maximum imprisonment of ten years or a fine of not more than $5,000, or both.

While this court took cognizance of People v. McCabe, supra, in State v. Shearer, 1972, 86 S.D. 711, 201 N.W.2d 180 (see 86 S.D. *655 p. 717, fn. 1), we are asked to reassess our position in light of the fact that a number of trial and intermediate courts have followed the reasoning of the McCabe decision. The import of these decisions is that, based upon more enlightened medical and scientific knowledge relative to both beneficial and harmful effects of marijuana, such a classification is violative of the equal protection rights. Illustrative of cases in which lower courts have taken testimony, made comparisons between marijuana, barbiturates and amphetamines and also have likened the use of marijuana to the use of cigarettes and alcohol to reflect a statutory inconsistency is set forth in State v. Anonymous, Conn.Super., 32 Conn.Sup. 324, 355 A.2d 729. While we cannot support the conclusion reached by Judge Berdon in State v. Anonymous, supra, the decision does provide a rather complete listing of the decisions and recognized publications lending support to the McCabe holding.

At the outset, it is a well settled rule of this court that “when a party assails the constitutionality of an act, he must show beyond reasonable doubt that it is in violation of the fundamental law of our government. Every presumption is in favor of the validity of a legislative enactment, and it is for the attacking party to show that his rights are invaded by that act, and that it does not come within the legitimate exercise of the lawmaking power under the constitution.” State v. Morgan, 1891, 2 S.D. 32, 48 N.W. 314, writ dismissed, 159 U.S. 261, 15 S.Ct. 1041, 40 L.Ed. 145; State v. Reininger, 1931, 59 S.D. 336, 239 N.W. 849. We have also held that “The passage of the law by the Legislature raises a presumption of its constitutionality, [citation omitted] To overcome this presumption there must be facts of which we will take judicial notice which will permit us to say that there is no rational basis for the distinction.” Great Northern Ry. v. Whitfield, 1937, 65 S.D. 173, 272 N.W. 787. In this context appellant offered no expert testimony in the trial court, but has asked this court to take judicial notice of several medical and legal journals and congressional reports tending to cast doubt on the reasonableness of the classification of marijuana as a controlled substance for the purpose of imposing criminal sanctions. Admittedly, there is as much disagreement among the experts and the courts now as there was at the time that the law in question was enacted.

*656 The statutory scheme here involved does not involve basic or fundamental rights or interests of appellant and

“the concept of equal protection as embodied in the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, see Bolling v. Sharpe, 347 U.S. 497, 74 S.Ct. 693, 98 L.Ed. 884 (1954), does not require that all persons be dealt with identically, but rather that there be some ‘rational basis’ for the statutory distinctions made, McGinnis v. Royster, 410 U.S. 263, 270, 93 S.Ct. 1055, 1060, 35 L.Ed.2d 282 (1973), or that they ‘have some relevance to the purpose for which the classification is made.’ ” (citations omitted) Marshall v. United States, 1974, 414 U.S. 417, 94 S.Ct. 700, 38 L.Ed.2d 618.

As stated in McLaughlin v.

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Bluebook (online)
245 N.W.2d 277, 90 S.D. 652, 1976 S.D. LEXIS 251, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-strong-sd-1976.