Opinion ID: 1195159
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The General Design Of The Hawai`i Drug Trafficking Statutes

Text: In State v. Mundell, 8 Haw.App. 610, 822 P.2d 23, cert. denied, 72 Haw. 619, 841 P.2d 1075 (1991), the Intermediate Court of Appeals recognized that [o]ne purpose of [the penal statutes relating to drugs and intoxicating compounds] is to penalize drug law offenders according to the potential for abuse and social harm involved in their activities, hitting hardest at illegal traffickers (those who either possess large quantities of dangerous ..., harmful[,] or detrimental drugs or who distribute[] it in any amount). Hse. Conf. Comm. Rep. No. 1, in 1972 House Journal, at 1040; see also Commentary on HRS §§ 712-1241 to -1250. Thus, the legislature established a hierarchy of offenses based on the amount and kind of drugs possessed. See HRS §§ 712-1241 to -1250 (1985 & Supp.1990). This hierarchy indicates the legislature's determination of the possessor's position in the illegal drug stream. Larger amounts indicate the possessor is a main source of supply; lesser amounts indicate the possessor is a middle man between the main supply source and the consumer; the smallest amounts indicate the possessor is a consumer or user. Commentary to HRS §§ 712-1241 to -1250. 8 Haw.App. at 619-20, 822 P.2d at 28 (some brackets in original and some added). In Aluli, this court construed the design of our drug trafficking statutes as follows: The drug trafficking statutes ... make a clear distinction between distributors (i.e., suppliers or sellers) and possessors according to the amount of drugs possessed or dispensed. In explaining the rationale for treating possessors and distributors differently, the Commentary to HRS §§ 712-1241 to 1250 states: It is the purpose of the Code to hit hardest at the illegal trafficker in dangerous drugs, harmful drugs, and detrimental drugs. The scheme devised for so doing is to arrange the sanctions relating to each substance, either for possession or distributing, on the basis of the amounts involved. Such amounts are meant to reflect, i.e., provide an indicia of[,] the position of the defendant in the illegal drug traffic.... In keeping with [the] purpose of the Code, the greater the amounts involved the more severe the sanctions. Also, it will be noted that the offenses of distributing a given substance are classed or graded one degree above the possession of the same amount. Thus, for example, in §§ 712-1241 and 1242, the possession of wholesale amounts of a dangerous drug is a class A felony; however, the defendant who distributes retail amounts of a dangerous drug will receive the same sanction, whereas possession of that amount is a class B felony. In equating, for purposes of classification and sanction, possession of a given amount of a substance with distributing a somewhat smaller amount, the [penal code] attempts to provide the same sanction for persons at the same level of involvement in the trafficking of a particular substance. For example, a pusher is likely to possess a larger supply of one or more of the specified substances which he would distribute on a given occasion; he will break down his supply into smaller marketable amounts before distributing. Commentary to HRS §§ 712-1241 to 1250 (1985). Treating a buyer as a distributor would blur the intended distinction between suppliers/distributors and possessors and would effectively nullify the legislature's construct that possessors of a given amount of a particular substance occupy the same position in the drug trade as distributors of a comparatively smaller amount. For instance, all of those possessors who bought their drugs could, at the discretion of the prosecutor, be charged with distribution.[ [4] ] Aluli, 78 Hawai`i at 321-22, 893 P.2d at 172-73 (emphasis added) (some brackets and ellipsis points added and some in original) (footnotes omitted). Consistent with the foregoing, a number of patterns have emerged with respect to the drug trafficking statutes that govern the promoting of dangerous, harmful, and detrimental drugs, i.e., HRS §§ 712-1241 to 712-1249. First, the higher the degree of danger that is perceived in a given drug, the more severe the sanction. Thus, for example, promoting a dangerous drug in the first degree and promoting a harmful drug in the first degree [5] are class A felonies, see HRS §§ 712-1241(2) and -1244(2) (1993), whereas promoting a detrimental drug in the first degree is a class C felony, see HRS § 712-1247(2) (1993), supra note 1. Second, the greater the quantity of a given categorized drug that is merely possessed (as distinguished from distributed, see Aluli, 78 Hawai`i at 321-22, 893 P.2d at 172-73), the more severe the sanction. Thus, for example, knowingly possessing one ounce or more of a harmful drug constitutes a form of promoting a harmful drug in the first degree, a class A felony, see HRS §§ 712-1244(1)(b) and (2) (1993), whereas knowingly possessing one-eighth ounce or more of the same drug constitutes a form of promoting a harmful drug in the second degree, a class B felony, see HRS §§ 712-1245(1)(b) and (2) (1993), and knowingly possessing the same drug in any amount constitutes promoting a harmful drug in the fourth degree, a misdemeanor, see HRS §§ 712-1246.5(1) and (2) (1993). [6] Third, the greater the quantity of a given categorized drug that is distributed, see HRS § 712-1240 (1993), supra note 1, the more severe the sanction. For example, knowingly distributing one ounce or more of a Schedule V substance constitutes a form of promoting a detrimental drug in the first degree, a class C felony, see HRS §§ 712-1247(1)(d) and (2) (1993), whereas knowingly distributing any Schedule V substance in any amount constitutes a form of promoting a detrimental drug in the second degree, a misdemeanor, see HRS §§ 712-1248(1)(d) and (2) (1993), supra note 2. Fourth, it hasfrom the inception of the Hawai`i Penal Codebeen the intent of the legislature that the [s]everest penalties be given to the person who distributes to a minor. See Hse. Conf. Comm. Rep. No. 1, in 1972 House Journal, at 1040, Sen. Conf. Comm. Rep. No. 1-72, in 1972 Senate Journal, at 739. [7] Thus, knowingly distributing any dangerous drug in any amount to a minor constitutes a form of promoting a dangerous drug in the first degree, a class A felony, see HRS §§ 712-1241(1)(c) and (2) (1993), and knowingly distributing any harmful drug in any amount to a minor constitutes a form of promoting a harmful drug in the first degree, a class A felony, see HRS §§ 712-1244(1)(e) and (2) (1993). It is with respect to the third and fourth of the foregoing patterns that the knowing distribution of marijuana, in violation of HRS §§ 712-1247 and -1248, see supra notes 1 and 2, presents an anomaly, and therein lies the source of the problem that has generated this appeal. To fully appreciate the anomaly, however, it is necessary to trace the development of these two statutes, which we will do in the next section of this opinion.