Conner v. State

ON PETITION TO TRANSFER

SHEPARD, Chief Justice.

If only James Conner had filled his sandwich baggies with real marijuana instead of the harmless moist plant material he sold to the police informant. To his surprise and dismay, under Indiana’s drug statutes selling fake marijuana is classified as a much more serious crime than selling actual marijuana.

Conner was convicted of distributing a substance represented to be a controlled substance, a class C felony, Ind.Code Ann. § 35-48-4-4.6 (West Supp. 1993). A divided Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction, but remanded for a new sentencing.…