Heroin

Reporter’s Notes

“Dispensing.”  The word “dispense” is defined under 18 V.S.A. § 4201(7) to include “distribute, leave with, give away, dispose of, or deliver.”  It is the committee’s understanding that “dispensing” a regulated drug necessarily involves a transfer to another individual.  One who disposes of regulated drugs by flushing them down the toilet is not thereby guilty of dispensing.  While it may be a crime to possess the drug, it is not a crime to dispossess oneself of cocaine so long as the dispossession does not involve selling or dispensing.  State v. Harris, 152 Vt. 507, 509 (1989).

“Heroin.” “Heroin” is defined by statute, 18 V.S.A. § 4201(36).  The State may have to present evidence that a substance has been designated as heroin by a rule adopted by the board of health, and the court may have to address the preliminary question of whether or not the rule has been adopted by following the Vermont Administrative Procedures Act.

All instructions in this section last updated May 5, 2006