Court Opinion

ID: 9848956
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 04:31:01.198037+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:18:55.347063
License: Public Domain

Beasley, Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I respectfully dissent with respect to the reversal of conviction for a violation of OCGA § 16-13-30.1. The evidence would not support a *769conviction of OCGA § 16-13-30.2, so defendant was not entitled to a charge on it.
The evidence showed that the substance involved was '26 grams, just under one ounce, of a brown powder which the undercover buyer thought from appearance and taste was methamphetamine, a controlled substance which is commonly known as “crank.” It was sold to her as crank for $700. Laboratory testing revealed that the main ingredient in the powder was niacinamide, also known as nicotinamide, a vitamin which is regarded as a “dangerous drug” in Georgia. See OCGA § 16-13-71 (b) (640.3). It is to be sold only by prescription and costs about $10-$15 for a fairly large bottle. This ingredient is commonly used as a cutting agent in illegal methamphetamine and sometimes it is used to cut cocaine. The powder also “possibly” contained a little ephedrine, an over-the-counter decongestant.
In 1982 the General Assembly amended certain portions of the controlled substances law by redefining “counterfeit substance,” by adding a definition for “noncontrolled substance” and by adding a new crime, i.e., certain activities with respect to the “noncontrolled substance.” Ga. L. 1982, p. 2370; OCGA §§ 16-13-21 (6) & (29); 16-13-30.1. Accordingly:
“Noncontrolled substance” means “any drug or other substance other than a controlled substance as defined by paragraph (4) of this Code section.”
Paragraph (4) defines “controlled substance” as “a drug, substance, or immediate precursor in Schedules I through V of Code Sections 16-13-25 through 16-13-29 and Schedules I through V of 21 C.F.R. Part 1308.” Any substance which contains any quantity of methamphetamine is a Schedule II controlled substance. OCGA § 16-13-26 (3) (B).
In 1988 the General Assembly again amended the controlled substances law to add a crime, i.e., certain activity involving “an imitation controlled substance,” and to define that term. Ga. L. 1986, p. 1065. It focuses on certain substances which are “noncontrolled substances” and puts them in a lesser crime category and affords them a less severe punishment. OCGA §§ 16-13-21 (12.1) and 16-13-30.2. (For some reason it leaves out “deliver,” “dispense,” and “sell” from the list of expressly prohibited activities.) We do not have before us the legitimacy of the disparate treatment.
The definition of “imitation controlled substance,” which, is quoted in the majority opinion, is what is important here. There was no evidence, nor could it reasonably be inferred, that the niacinamide was “specifically designed or manufactured to resemble the physical appearance of” methamphetamine. See OCGA § 16-13-21 (12.1) (A). Nor can it reasonably be inferred that the noncontrolled niacinamide powder was “a product . . . which ... by dosage unit appearance, *770including color, shape, size, or markings, would lead a reasonable person to believe” it would have a “similar” or “same” effect as methamphetamine. The powder was not shown to be a “dosage unit.” It had no particular “shape, size, or markings.” It simply was the cutting agent for methamphetamine which, together with the representations made by defendant, led the buyer to believe it was methamphetamine. It is clear that the description contained in OCGA § 16-13-21 (12.1) (B) means pills and capsules and other products which mimic controlled substances.
Decided June 3, 1992
Reconsideration denied July 2, 1992
Murphy, Murphy & Garner, Stephen E. Garner, for appellant.
William A. Foster III, District Attorney, Jeffrey L. Ballew, Assistant District Attorney, for appellee.
If the majority’s construction is accepted, then OCGA § 16-13-30.2 would always, or nearly always, be a lesser included offense in violation of OCGA § 16-13-30.1. In effect this would leave up to the jury whether to convict of a felony or of a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature, under the same set of facts. I do not interpret the legislature’s intent to be this, but rather to be to treat less severely activities involving imitations of the real thing. The substance here was not an imitation of methamphetamine but rather the cutting agent without the methamphetamine ingredient.
I would agree with the trial court and affirm the conviction.
I am authorized to state that Presiding Judge Carley and Judge Johnson join in this opinion.