Utah OnLaw: The Utah Law Review Online Supplement
Article Title
The Unconstitutional Prosecution of Controlled Substance Metabolites Under Utah Code § 41-6A-517
Abstract
This Article achieves three main goals. First, it explains and explores Utah’s per se metabolite laws against the backdrop of the national landscape of metabolite laws. Second, this Article provides a concise explanation regarding the science of drug metabolites. Finally, this Article presents two constitutional challenges to Utah Code section 41-6a-517. The first challenge argues that the statute creates an impermissible status offense in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The second challenge argues that the statute violates Utah’s Uniform Operation of Laws Clause found in the Utah Constitution. This Article concludes by asking Utah state courts and state legislature to examine the validity of Utah Code section 41-6a-517 and ultimately to overturn the statute.
Recommended Citation
Snow, Joshua C.
(2013)
"The Unconstitutional Prosecution of Controlled Substance Metabolites Under Utah Code § 41-6A-517,"
Utah OnLaw: The Utah Law Review Online Supplement: Vol. 2013
, Article 19.
Available at:
https://dc.law.utah.edu/onlaw/vol2013/iss1/19