Opinion ID: 440538
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: In General--Marijuana Related Offenses as a Basis for Prosecution Under RICO

Text: 6 The Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1962, makes it unlawful to conduct or participate in the conduct of an enterprise affecting interstate commerce, through a pattern of racketeering activity, and also makes it a crime to conspire to do so. Racketeering activity is defined in terms of a laundry list of offenses, including the felonious manufacture, importation, receiving, concealment, buying, selling, or otherwise dealing in narcotic or other dangerous drugs, punishable under any law of the United States. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1961(1)(D) (emphasis supplied). 7 Joining appellant Hobson in his brief to this court is G. Robert Blakey, a professor of law at Notre Dame and a principal drafter of the RICO statute. Professor Blakey argues that marijuana offenses do not qualify as racketeering activity under RICO, because Congress did not intend the phrase narcotic or other dangerous drugs to include marijuana offenses. In support of his position, he points out that proposed drafts of the Act, listing marijuana in addition to narcotic and other dangerous drugs, were considered but ultimately rejected, and that in the federal wiretap statute, which Professor Blakey also had a hand in drafting, wiretaps were authorized for suspected offenses involving narcotic drugs, marihuana, or other dangerous drugs. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2516(e) (emphasis supplied). Since Congress separately listed marijuana alongside narcotic or other dangerous drugs in the wiretap statute, its failure to do so in the RICO statute, the argument goes, reflects a congressional intent to exclude marijuana offenses from coverage under the Act. 8 Our consideration of the appellants' argument is foreclosed by United States v. Phillips, 664 F.2d 971 (5th Cir. Unit B 1981). In Phillips, as here, it was argued that RICO did not apply to marijuana offenses. The holding in Phillips was explicit: Marijuana may be the subject matter of a RICO charge, Phillips 664 F.2d at 1040. The appellants argue that Phillips is not controlling, because there, the basis for the defendant's claim was that marijuana is neither a narcotic nor a dangerous drug in fact, whereas here, the claim is grounded in legislative history and intent. However, the mere act of proffering additional reasons not expressly considered previously for accepting a particular statutory interpretation that has been explicitly rejected by a panel of our court, will not open the door to reconsideration of the question by a second panel. In short, Phillips held that marijuana may be the subject matter of a RICO charge; we are not at liberty to hold that it may not. 9