Articles Tagged with alcohol

The Navy’s largest overseas installation has seen a significant drop in incidents of drinking and driving over the last two years, thanks in part, to a persistent sobriety checkpoint program, according to base officials.

Stars & Stripes reports.

The answer to alcohol related incidents, including deaths, injury, and property damage is simple.  Treat alcohol as the drug that it is.  Treat alcohol the same way any other drug use is treated in the military.  Alcohol is considered the number one drug of abuse is it not.  Ban alcohol use unless it is prescribed.

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals considers a conviction of “housebreaking,” under Article 130, UCMJ, to be a crime of violence for firearms possession charges in federal district court.  We frequently are asked by clients if they can still own a firearm.  The answer is a very nuanced one, as Begay and Whetzell indicate.

Appellant’s prior crime, the crime of housebreaking, occurs when "[a]ny person subject to [the Uniform Code of Military Justice] . . . unlawfully enters the building or structure of another with intent to commit a criminal offense therein. . . ." 10 U.S.C. § 930. . . .

Appellant’s primary argument against this conclusion is that the district court improperly referenced the military court’s discussion of the underlying facts of his conviction. Generally, a court is only to consider "the fact of conviction and the statutory definition of the prior offense." Taylor, 495 U.S. at 602. But the district court’s reference in this case to the underlying facts of Appellant’s housebreaking conviction, as articulated in the military court’s opinion, does not change the fact that the elements of housebreaking constitute a generic burglary crime, a crime of violence under our precedents. Further, and contrary to Appellant’s argument, the Supreme Court’s opinion in Begay v. United States, 553 U.S. 137 (2008), did not alter our decisions in regard to generic burglary and does not provide reason for reversal.

A new order from Marine Corps Forces Command explicitly prohibits Marines from using a number of legal substances, including the herbal blend Spice, to achieve an altered state of consciousness or a druglike “high.” . . . The order, dated Jan. 27, bars Marines from using, possessing, attempting to possess, manufacturing or introducing onto military installations any of 10 substances that cause “legal highs.” Spice and salvia divinorum, including their many aliases, are at the top of the list.

JDNews.com reports.

According to MARFORPAC Order 5355.2, the substances known as Spice and Salvia Divinorum, while not listed as a controlled substance and highly accessible by service members, are hereby prohibited to all service members assigned within the MARFORPAC chain of command.

A lot of our court-martial cases have alcohol as a factor.  So, while a little off topic, I thought this curiosity might be of interest.

A woman had a blood-alcohol level of .708 percent, possibly a state record, when she was found earlier this month behind the wheel of a stolen vehicle parked on Interstate 90.

A state chemist recalled a sample that tested .53, but nothing higher, in his more than 30 years on the job.

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