SYNTHETIC MARIJUANA IS NOT “DANGEROUS CONTRABAND” WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE “PROMOTING PRISON CONTRABAND” STATUTES (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reducing defendant’s conviction of promoting prison contraband first degree to second degree, determined that synthetic marijuana did not meet the definition of “”dangerous contraband:”

The Court of Appeals has “conclude[d] that the test for determining whether an item is dangerous contraband is whether its particular characteristics are such that there is a substantial probability that the item will be used in a manner that is likely to cause death or other serious injury, to facilitate an escape, or to bring about other major threats to a detention facility’s institutional safety or security” … . “Generally, dangerous contraband refers to weapons . . . Items that facilitate escape are also dangerous contraband” (id. [internal quotation marks omitted]). Conversely, small amounts of marihuana, “unlike other contraband such as weapons, are not inherently dangerous and the dangerousness is not apparent from the nature of the item” … . Additionally, we note that the substance at issue here is a synthetic drug that mimics the effects of THC, the active ingredient in marihuana, and “the conclusion that . . . small amounts of marihuana . . . are not dangerous contraband is informed by the Legislature’s more lenient treatment of marihuana offenses, as opposed to those involving other drugs” … . People v Mclamore, 2021 NY Slip Op 00926, Fourth Dept 2-11-21