State v. Ellison
Annotate this CaseDefendants were charged with a number of violations of the North Carolina Controlled Substances Act, including trafficking in twenty-eight grams or more of a mixture containing opium. Defendants moved to dismiss the charges, arguing that the General Assembly did not intend the charges stemming from possession of prescription medications be based on total weight. The opium trafficking statute explicitly provides that a defendant's criminal liability shall be based on the total weight of the mixture involved. The trial court denied Defendants' motions, and the jury found Defendants guilty as charged. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that because tablets and pills are mixtures, the opium trafficking statute applies in cases involving tablets and pills of prescription pharmaceutical drugs, and thus, Defendants were properly sentenced under the opium trafficking statute.
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