Possession of Marijuana turned into open container?

blazeddd

blazeddd

Well-Known Member
So I got a bill which is about 3x as much as it usually is for my car insurance. I called them up and they told me that I have 3 points. 1 for Speeding, okay. 1 for possession of dank, okay.. and then, open container while driving? DUI? wtf?
I was never arrested before, I never went to jail, I never even got booked for anything at all.. I got the possession of dank about a year ago when I didn't have my club card.. I doubt that my medical card can do anything for me now, because it's after the fact.
But my real concern is.. how could it turn into an open container and possession? I had nothing in the car.. I rarely even drink.. no DUI test no nothing. They just pulled me over for my headlights off, smelled weed, found my bong. They took the weed, gave back the bong, gave me a ticket and sent me off.
My ticket says.. 23222(b)vc Driver possess marijuana while driving.
I went to court, paid 200$ or so and thats it.
This all happened in California.

I'm planning on hitting up DMV, but thats probably next week. I'm just wondering what you guys think could have happened. Any thoughts/ideas?
 
mconn333

mconn333

Well-Known Member
i would fight it. it may be a clercial error, or the cop could have fucked up. i would call your local court and check it out in the place were u pay tickets
 
TokinPodPilot

TokinPodPilot

Well-Known Member
blazeddd said:
So I got a bill which is about 3x as much as it usually is for my car insurance. I called them up and they told me that I have 3 points. 1 for Speeding, okay. 1 for possession of dank, okay.. and then, open container while driving? DUI? wtf?
I was never arrested before, I never went to jail, I never even got booked for anything at all.. I got the possession of dank about a year ago when I didn't have my club card.. I doubt that my medical card can do anything for me now, because it's after the fact.
But my real concern is.. how could it turn into an open container and possession? I had nothing in the car.. I rarely even drink.. no DUI test no nothing. They just pulled me over for my headlights off, smelled weed, found my bong. They took the weed, gave back the bong, gave me a ticket and sent me off.
My ticket says.. 23222(b)vc Driver possess marijuana while driving.
I went to court, paid 200$ or so and thats it.
This all happened in California.

I'm planning on hitting up DMV, but thats probably next week. I'm just wondering what you guys think could have happened. Any thoughts/ideas?
Click to expand...
You probably had it up in the front with you, right? When traveling, keep your gear and tools in the trunk. Unlike alcohol which comes in containers that make it easy to determine if they're still sealed by the producer, cannabis is harder to prove that you didn't open the container whilst driving or traveling. Unfortunately, this is one of those situations where you may not have any recourse except to wait out the period in which these charges remain on your record. Like with open alcohol containers, keeping them in the trunk during transit is usually proof that you were not using a substance while driving.
 
D

Dirty Harry

Well-Known Member
blazeddd said:
My ticket says.. 23222(b)vc Driver possess marijuana while driving.
Click to expand...
To me, that reads into a very gray area in terms of lawyers. The term "while driving" could be interpreted as having consumed.
But as stated, it may be a mistake and you need to verify it. I would assume that under the influence of MJ would be worded something like, "Under the influence of narcotics."
 
TokinPodPilot

TokinPodPilot

Well-Known Member
Dirty Harry said:
To me, that reads into a very gray area in terms of lawyers. The term "while driving" could be interpreted as having consumed.
But as stated, it may be a mistake and you need to verify it. I would assume that under the influence of MJ would be worded something like, "Under the influence of narcotics."
Click to expand...
Once again, this is the same thing as an open alcohol container. Even if you prove via testing that you aren't drunk, you'll still be cited for driving under the influence since there's not a way for you to prove that you didn't consume while driving UNLESS the bottles are still sealed by the manufacturer or they are in the trunk. Glove compartment doesn't count, nor does the back seat.
 
blazeddd

blazeddd

Well-Known Member
TokinPodPilot said:
Once again, this is the same thing as an open alcohol container. Even if you prove via testing that you aren't drunk, you'll still be sited for driving under the influence since there's not a way for you to prove that you didn't consume while driving UNLESS the bottles are still sealed by the manufacturer or they are in the trunk. Glove compartment doesn't count, nor does the back seat.
Click to expand...
wow thats hella dumb. so why didnt I get arrested or anything? and why doesn't the ticket say anything about the container.. or the fact that no one even told me anything about driving under the influence?
does that basically mean I have a DUI on my record for 7 years... ? what a lame society huh. too bad my medical card can do shit for me now.
 
TokinPodPilot

TokinPodPilot

Well-Known Member
There's no "closed" container scenario for pot like there is for alcohol. Always best to keep all intoxicants in the trunk while in transit. You could consult with a lawyer about the charges, but I think you may indeed be stuck with this for the time being.
 
R

redivider

Well-Known Member
it's probably a clerical error.

or if the cop fucked up b/c he was supposed to charge you with open container but gave you a ticket for possesion then you might be able to get the ticket removed and the whole incident forgotten.........

talk to a traffic lawyer... around here there's 3 lawyer's offices down the street from the DMV, and all they do all day is deal with tickets..... go to the DMV office andfind one...
 
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