How do musicians that actively talk about their illegal drug consumption not immediately get arrested, if their music acts as a confession?
In:
Talking about using drugs isn’t a crime. Nor is it a confession.
And, actually, in most places *using* drugs isn’t a crime. E.g., if you’re high, not making any trouble, not driving, and don’t have any drugs or drug paraphernalia *on you*, there’s not really much you can be arrested for.
What is a crime is *possessing* drugs, *selling* drugs, *operating a vehicle under the influence* of drugs, *creating a disturbance while under the influence* of drugs, etc.
For law enforcement to arrest someone for one of those crimes, they have to catch them possessing drugs, selling drugs, operating a vehicle under the influence, etc.
Just having said that you’ve used drugs at some point in the past isn’t enough to arrest, charge, and try someone for a drug-related crime. That requires law enforcement resources to surveil, investigate, and arrest that person *in the act* of committing the drug-related crime, as well as prosecutor resources to arraign and try them.
Possessing drugs is a minor offense; law enforcement doesn’t hunt people down for that. It’s too frequent and would take too many resources. Most possession charges arise from someone being stopped for suspicious behavior or for some other non-drug-related crime.
Selling drugs *might* be something law enforcement would pursue if they thought (a) the musician was selling in quantity and (b) they could catch that musician in the act. But (b) is not necessarily easy. They have to be at the right place at the right time and have reasonable cause to make the arrest.
And, obviously something like a DUI or drunk-and-disorderly actually requires the person in question to be caught in the act.
Latest Answers