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Synthetic Marijuana Victory

June 30, 2017By Brian Manchester

On May 25, 2017 Attorney Brian Manchester became the first lawyer in the United States to have a synthetic marijuana analogue drug statute declared unconstitutional by a state or federal supreme court. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the case of Commonwealth v. Herman found that the former analogue based synthetic cannabinoid statute was unconstitutionally vague. They also found that in order to prove a defendant guilty of the Pennsylvania State Designer Drug statute the government must prove that a defendant knew that the compound they were selling has a substantially similar chemical structure to a scheduled drug. This is a requirement that will make it extremely difficult to prove in court.

This is a significant victory in that it is the first time ever a court recognized that an analogue based statute is too vague. Synthetic cannabinoids, also called synthetic marijuana, K2, or Spice are man made compounds designed to mimic marijuana and its effects. The compound in the Herman case was PB-22. Brian Manchester used several experts including John W. Huffman who is widely considered the best expert in the world on synthetic cannabinoids and is the creator of many different synthetic cannabinoid compounds.

Synthetic cannabinoid, K2, Spice cases are very complex cases to defend. It requires a high level of analytical and organic chemistry related knowledge. Attorney Manchester possesses such knowledge through his training at Axion Labs in Chicago as well as his membership in the American Chemical Society and his certification as a Lawyer-Scientist through the American Chemical Society. Not just that but he regularly defends these cases and is asked to consult on many other cases by lawyers from across Pennsylvania. If you or someone you know has been arrested for synthetic drugs, synthetic marijuana, K2, Spice, or any drug case call 1-800-243-4878. Very few lawyers in the country ever get a nation-wide setting precedent. Brian Manchester did and he will use those same skills to defend your case.

Posted in: Drugs

Tags: Criminal Defense, Marijuana, Synthetic, Synthetic Marijuana, Synthetic Marijuana Victory,

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About the Author

Brian Manchester is the owner of Manchester and Associates in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. His law firm practices DUI and Criminal Defense exclusively throughout the entire state of Pennsylvania in both state and federal court. He has a team of two other lawyers with a combined 50 years of trial and courtroom experience are also trained in science and many other skills that are relevant to criminal defense to include the psychology of persuasion as well. One of his associates is a former District Attorney (chief prosecutor) in central Pennsylvania.   Mr. Manchester and his team routinely handle serious felony cases including murder, manslaughter, sex crimes, complex financial crimes, and serious assaults. A large part of Mr. Manchester’s practice is the defense of alcohol and drug-based DUI offenses as well as drug cases using science and analytical chemistry. Mr. Manchester has training as a Standardized Field Sobriety Testing Instructor. He is one of a handful of Certified Lawyer-Scientists as recognized by the American Chemical Society in the United States. He is a member of NCDD and is a Founding Member of DUIDLA. He is also a member of the American Chemical Society with over 170,000 members across the world. To date, he is the only practicing criminal defense lawyer to belong to the Society of Forensic Toxicologist where he is an Associate Member. Mr. Manchester speaks nationally on the topic of blood and drug testing for alcohol as well as the metrological (measurement uncertainty) in forensic testing.

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  • “Mr. Manchester is the lawyer I would hire if accused of DWI. He is concerned for his clients and aggressively defends their cases. He has completed the most rigorous training to be one of the best DWI lawyers in the State. His determination and knowledge will serve you well when he is your attorney.”
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