momomoto Posted February 24, 2009 Can I get into trouble for owning blotter art? I just want to hang it on my wall, a reminiscent artefact - another trophy of a dominated culture. Was checking the vaults and found this old article and wondered what everyone did with theirs? ever had it confiscated or used against them? curious if burglars would steal it though! Stories please! (not too worried if legal related, here) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Torsten Posted February 24, 2009 you can get into trouble if you were to claim an empty sheet of paper has lsd on it. ie you can get charged and convicted for a drug if you claim it is that drug, even though there is no drug present. Most blotter art does not claim to have lsd on it, but you might want to be careful about designs that do. eg a smiley design makes no such claim, but an "LSD-25" design does. This is really splitting hairs, but point is that with something like blotter art you are unlikely to find a judge sympathetic to your cause, so best to not get into such a situation. That said, I'd think that 99% of blotter art is perfectly legal. That probably won't stop customs from seizing it under their "community protection" agenda, but there should be no legal consequences from that. Then again, depending on what sort of art and what sort of packaging they probably won't even notice. Importing such items is also likely to get other law enforcement agencies interested because blotter art is after all often used to put lsd on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J Smith Posted February 24, 2009 (edited) Talk about a coincidence, I was just looking into blotter art yesterday after seeing Erowid is giving away a sheet signed by Hofmann if you donate $5000. http://www.erowid.org/donations/incentives_special5.php I mostly agree with Torsten however I don't think that a pattern that explicitly said LSD-25 would make too much difference. Law enforcement should recognise blotter as potentially containing LSD and would have the right to take the blotter away to test. Ultimately, if the blotter does not container LSD it should be returned to you and you should be right. I would suspect the law enforcement would destroy at least some of the sheet during testing. I wouldn't be too happy having a sheet that I spent $5000 on destroyed for testing. Edited February 24, 2009 by madhouses visites Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chiral Posted February 24, 2009 read this to find out exactly what happened when blotters where seized. H. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fenris Posted February 25, 2009 (edited) I bought my sister an Easy Rider blotter signed by Peter Fonda for a wedding present. The company that sent it out threw in a few extra sheets, an unsigned Easy Rider, an LSD25 rolling stones type tongue and a fantasy type blotter. Unless you are storing your art wrapped in foil in the freezer I cant see there being any problem. Why do law enforcement get such a raging hard on for drugs charges? Spending millions trying to fit up a blotter artist, great use of resources Edited February 25, 2009 by Fenris Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Torsten Posted February 26, 2009 Please don't spread misinformation if you don't know the law. I don't like always letting people know what possible legal implication something has, but having to constantly re-state them or argue with people who have never read a legal text is very frustrating. Yes, I agree that it is unlikely to be charged for having a blotter that is labelled LSD [ie has this in the design]. However, most people would also think that having a bag of parsley that is labelled [or verbally sold as] cannabis would also not be illegal. The facts are often very different to what logic dictates, so please don't give legal information as a result of logic deduction! [this is a general statement and not purely directed at the posters in this thread] I mostly agree with Torsten however I don't think that a pattern that explicitly said LSD-25 would make too much difference. Law enforcement should recognise blotter as potentially containing LSD and would have the right to take the blotter away to test. Ultimately, if the blotter does not container LSD it should be returned to you and you should be right. Firstly, anything that states LSD anywhere on the item could be regarded as being labelled LSD and hence being represented as LSD which would make it fall within the legal definition of the drug. eg, a piece of blotter that is sold in a baggy that is labelled with the words 'LSD' is definitely illegal, so it is not much of a stretch for a prosecutor to make a case of a piece of paper that has LSD 'written' directly on it. Secondly, if a blotter is 'labelled' as LSD then even if you are not charged, there is still no requirement for the authorities to return it to you. Thirdly, in the customs act is a provision that prohibits any printed material that advertises or depicts illegal drugs . ie posters of poppy fields, cannabis picture books, and most ethnobotany books are in fact customs prohibited imports [and also RC published material]. So, a blotter that depicts LSD is definitely illegal under this section. Furthermore, even a blotter that does not depict the words LSD could be seen as referring to LSD drug use and could hence be seized. And lastly, there are plenty of drug paraphernalia laws that could apply to blotters in each state. While it is unlikely they will be used by police or customs, my bet is that IF they are enacted then a judge will also give them merit. I would suspect the law enforcement would destroy at least some of the sheet during testing. I wouldn't be too happy having a sheet that I spent $5000 on destroyed for testing. Again, you are using logic, not law. If you bought a piece of blotter art that met all customs and drug law guidelines for being legal [eg no drug words, no drug references, no perforations, etc] then the authorities could only seize the item after a preliminary test indicated illegal drugs. Preliminary testing does not require the destruction of any part of the sheet as it is done by swabs. If a swab test was negative and your item was seized and [partially] destroyed then you would be able to claim compensation. And Fenris, keeping your blotter art "wrapped in foil in the freezer" has no bearing on the situation whatsoever. I mean, it is more likely to trigger prelim testing that way, but other than that it makes no difference whatsoever. Hunab, the USA has an almost absolute freedom of print and speech. we do not. while a case like that would probably have the same result in australia in terms of conspiracy to distribute, there would still be the possibility of minor charges as outlined above. One other thing to keep in mind folks is that if you have a blotter print anywhere in your house [even framed on the wall] and you or someone else in your house is in possession of ANY quantity of liquid LSD [even just 2 or 3 doses], then you can automatically be charged [and likely convicted] of manufacturing and supply, even if you have never manufactured or supplied. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mac Posted February 26, 2009 (edited) That,s just it, In the eyes of the law you can be charged for blotter art yet its !ok! for Bill Henson to take photos of naked teenagers Whats the world coming to ? We all remember this from last year not to mention other incidences over the last couple of years http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/23/2253585.htm Edited February 26, 2009 by mac Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
