Courtney Love Tests Posittive For Coke

[Aaron]

MTV

There wasn't much action inside the courtroom at Courtney Love's trial on Monday, but the prosecutor in the case made waves once he was outside the confines of Los Angeles Superior Court.

Assistant City Attorney Jerry Baik told reporters that Love had tested positive for cocaine and other illegal drugs, which were not identified, according to a spokesperson for the city attorney's office.

Love's trial for being under the influence of a controlled substance and disorderly conduct (see "Courtney Love Hit With Disorderly Conduct Charge") was scheduled to start Monday, but Judge Patricia M. Schnegg adjourned the case until May 25 at the defense's request. Love was not present in court.

If convicted on both misdemeanor charges, which stem from an October incident in which Love attempted to break into the home of her former manager and boyfriend, she faces up to a year and a half in jail.

"This case is way too old," Schnegg said before reluctantly granting the postponement, according to the Associated Press. "This is an October case. ... It's now May. No more delays."

At the time of her arrest, police gave Love a toxicological test to check for the presence of controlled substances in her system. The initial complaint stated that Love was found to be "under the influence of a narcotic drug classified as an opiate" or "cocaine." According to the prosecutor's statement to the press, it can be deduced that at least two drugs, one being cocaine, were found in Love's system.

"It's unfortunate that the district attorney doesn't have anything better to do than to reveal people's private matters," Love's attorney Michael Rosenstein said.

When the case was scheduled for trial last month, Rosenstein asked for an adjournment so that the urine sample police collected could be analyzed independently. The request for continuance this time, however, was because Rosenstein was in trial for another case. He was not present at Love's hearing Monday and had colleague Mark McBride appear for him.

Love also faces two felony charges for possession of controlled substances for handing over a bag of the prescription drugs oxycodone and hydrocodone (see "Love Pleads Not Guilty To Felony Drug Charges, Asks For Rehab"). If convicted on those charges, her prison sentence could last up to three years and eight months.

The felony and misdemeanor cases will be tried separately.



—Joe D'Angelo

Is it really necassary to charge her for possession? What somebody does to their own body is really their own business.

[BoyRocketeer]

if she breaks the law then it's fair to charge her for it.

[Darth Wong]

if she breaks the law then it's fair to charge her for it.

Keep that in mind the next time you drive your car through town without the mandated person walking with a bell in front of you to warn pedestrians of your approach.

[BoyRocketeer]

if she breaks the law then it's fair to charge her for it.

Keep that in mind the next time you drive your car through town without the mandated person walking with a bell in front of you to warn pedestrians of your approach.

sorry, I don't live in some shitty place like that.

[Aaron]

if she breaks the law then it's fair to charge her for it.

What I'm getting at is why is it a crime at all to do drugs? Are you really hurting anyone else? Unless you do something while under the influence that hurts someone else or leads you to break another law.

[BoyRocketeer]

if she breaks the law then it's fair to charge her for it.

What I'm getting at is why is it a crime at all to do drugs? Are you really hurting anyone else? Unless you do something while under the influence that hurts someone else or leads you to break another law.

0

I understand what you're talking about. I know it's a "victimless" crime, and that the district attorney could've gone after other big cases. But still, a law is a law and it must be abided or do it smart so they won't get caught. People should work to repeal such laws, not to whine to shits when getting caught. The law is in the books for a reason, if it doesnt fit, it might get repealed like prohibition.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

Are normal people usually charged and jailed for simple possession? I honestly don't know. If not, then she's being made an example of because of her celebrity status, and that's not right.

[Joe]

They throw people in jail for possession of pot, and that's about a thousand times less nasty than coke. What would make you think they wouldn't throw people in jail for cocaine?

[Sea Skimmer]

Are normal people usually charged and jailed for simple possession? I honestly don't know. If not, then she's being made an example of because of her celebrity status, and that's not right.

Normal people are jailed for possession of minuscule quantities all the time.

[Glocksman]

If you're questioning the War on Drugs, I agree.
The WoD is merely an excuse to shred the Bill of Rights.

If you're implying that Courtney Love is being persecuted merely because she's Courtney Love, I disagree as anyone who wasn't a celebrity would have already had their trial, conviction, and prison sentence imposed instead of delay after delay.

I guess she wasn't acting when she was cast as a junkie in The People vs. Larry Flynt

[Spanky The Dolphin]

She should be charged and convicted of being Courtney Love alone as it is, in my opinion.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

They throw people in jail for possession of pot, and that's about a thousand times less nasty than coke. What would make you think they wouldn't throw people in jail for cocaine?

I wasn't questioning whether it happens, I was trying to determine how often a bust is made and how often they let it go.

[His Divine Shadow]

Wow, Courtney Love is one fucked up person, but I guess thats not that much of a suprise.

[BoredShirtless]

if she breaks the law then it's fair to charge her for it.

What I'm getting at is why is it a crime at all to do drugs? Are you really hurting anyone else? Unless you do something while under the influence that hurts someone else or leads you to break another law.

Is it just me, or did you answer your own first question with your last sentance?

[HemlockGrey]

Is it just me, or did you answer your own first question with your last sentance?

Right, because every time you smoke pot, God kills a small child.

[BoredShirtless]

Is it just me, or did you answer your own first question with your last sentance?

Right, because every time you smoke pot, God kills a small child.

You'll have to excuse my inability to leap over words like "angel dust", "crack", and words like it which fall under the heading DRUGS.

[General Zod]

if she breaks the law then it's fair to charge her for it.

What I'm getting at is why is it a crime at all to do drugs? Are you really hurting anyone else? Unless you do something while under the influence that hurts someone else or leads you to break another law.

keep in mind that not all drugs equally affect the human body. one drug is far more likely to lead someone to breaking another law or doing something idiotic while under its influence than another, or is more likely to get you killed as a result of using it than another.

[Col. Crackpot]

the woman has a kid at home and she spends her time getting obliterated on cocaine and oxycontin. hardly a person you'd want to make the postergirl for the movement to loosen drug laws.

[RedImperator]

Jailing addicts for possession makes no sense, even from a prohibitionist standpoint. The primary biochemical mechanism of addiction is the drug causing the brain to reduce or eliminate dopamine production because the drug has been artifically raising dopamine levels in the user's brain. Opiates plug directly into the dopamine receptors, while cocaine and crack block dopamine uptake (in other words, opiates act like artifical dopamine while cocaine prevents the brain from reabsorbing it once its done, causing a backup of natural dopamine). Once the user stops taking the drug, she faces a period of hours or days where her pleasure centers are essentially dead. The threat of prison is not enough to keep most human beings in that condition from seeking more of the drug.

The prohibitionist argument is that the threat of jail is supposed to keep non-addicts from starting in the first place, but the reality is there's no way to detect or control that kind of use because it's so far under the radar you'd have to run the Constitution through the shredder to give the police the power they'd need to see it. Short of every citizen being subject to random drug tests at any time, I can't imagine how you could control casual use. Addicts are easy to catch because they follow patterns and they're usually committing other crimes to support their habits (though there are thousands of "functional addicts", usually wealthy enough to support a massive habit, who by all outward appearances function normally and will likely never be caught), but Joe Citizen who decides to try a line of blow at a party one night is virtually impossible to catch. And Joe Citizen knows this, thus negating the deterrent effect of prison.

Prohibition of hard drugs is a murkier issues than marijuana, I'll grant, and there are ones even I wouldn't legalize (meth and angel dust come to mind). But even if you don't think they should be legal, trying to control them by imprisoning addicts is pointless and cruel. If you're going to spend tens of thousands of dollars putting an addict through the criminal justice system, at least put her in detox and start her on her way towards a productive life again. I know that's not a popular sentiment with the "hang 'em all" crowd, but it's more humane and it's a better use of government resources anyway than caging an addict for a few months and then turning her out on her own, where she'll almost certainly be using again. Save prison for the people hauling this stuff in.

[His Divine Shadow]

Frankly she pisses me off, first off she's dumb enough to start on something as idiotic as coke but then she also got a kid...

But for oddity's sake I atleast partially agree with RI, put her in detox, I don't care wheter she wanted to go into detox or not, I'd simply force her.

This is mainly for the sake of her kid though.

[Rogue 9]

Actually, I support mandatory detox for drug offenders rather than jail time. Prison time just gets them (and the prison system) nowhere fast.