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by thaumasiotes 1461 days ago
> Technically, being high on heroin in a public place isn’t a crime.

That's hard to believe. If it's apparent to anyone else, it will be a crime in a few different ways. For example:

> A person is guilty of disorderly conduct if, with purpose to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm or recklessly creating a risk thereof, he or she:

> (1) Engages in fighting or threatening, or in violent or tumultuous behavior; [or]

> (2) Makes unreasonable noise or offensively coarse utterance, gesture or display, or addresses abusive language to any person present

( https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/25/11.441 , apparently a rule of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but the crime exists everywhere with somewhat variable definitions.)

1 comments

Do you really think people stung out on heroin do so "with purpose to cause public inconvenience"?

That said, chances are most jurisdictions have some variation of "dunk in public" that isn't as particular about the intoxicant. Even so, the criminal justice system hasn't proven itself to be an especially good solution to substance abusers.

> Do you really think people st[r]ung out on heroin do so "with purpose to cause public inconvenience"?

No, but as you'll note that is not an element of the crime. It suffices to act in a way that "recklessly creates a risk of public inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm".

I wouldn’t say heroin addicts act with purpose to cause inconvenience. They do cause inconvenience, but that’s not the purpose of their actions.
How is that a response to my comment? Why would it matter whether they have the purpose of causing inconvenience? It's not an element of the crime.
Because that's the language of the very statutes cited above.
Well, sure, if you can't read more than 14 words in one sitting. But for everyone capable of reading entire sentences at once.. no, that's not the language of the statute, you would have to be intentionally misreading it to make that statement.
I guess this is why people hire lawyers...
There is an OR in the statement, ie purpose is only one part of the condition.