Byron White

“ Third, opium is derived from the opium poppy which cannot be grown in this country without a license. [17] No licenses are outstanding for commercial cultivation [18] and there is no evidence that the opium poppy is illegally grown in the United States. [19]
Fourth, the law forbids the importation of any opium product except crude opium required for medical and scientific purposes; [20] importation of crude opium for the purpose of making heroin is specifically forbidden. [21] Sizable amounts of crude opium are legally imported and used to make morphine and codeine. ”

“ Second, heroin is a derivative of opium and can be manufactured from opium or from morphine or codeine, which are also derived from opium. [15] Whether heroin can be synthesized is disputed, but there is no evidence that it is being synthesized in this country. ”

“ Here the evidence proved Turner was distributing heroin. The status of the case with respect to the other allegations is irrelevant to the validity of Turner's conviction. So, too, the institution on the presumption is beside the point, since even if invalid, it was harmles error; the jury must have believed the possession evidence which in itself established a distribution barred by the statute. ”

“ The price, supply, and quality vary widely; [31] the market fluctuates with the ability of smugglers to outwit customs and narcotics agents at home and abroad. [32] The facts concerning heroin are available from many sources, frequently in the popular media. 'Common sense' (Leary v. United States, supra, 395 U.S. at 46, 89 S.Ct. at 1553) tells us that those who traffic in heroin will inevitably become aware that the product they deal in is smuggled, [33] unless they practice a studied ignorance to which they are not entitled. ”

“ The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs reports that conversion of codeine into morphine (from which heroin may be produced) is relatively simple and requires inexpensive equipment but produces an extremely noxious and penetrating odor which would make concealment of such conversion operations virtually impossible. Supplemental Memorandum for the United States 2.↑ The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs reports that it knows of no case in which synthetic heroin has been produced; it reports that experiments indicate that production of synthetic morphine would be extremely difficult. ”

“ It may be that the ordinary jury would not always know that heroin illegally circulating in this country is not manufactured here. But Turner and others who sell or distribute heroin are in a class apart. [30] Such people have regular contact with a drug which they know cannot be legally bought or sold; their livelihood depends on its availability ”

“ On appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, petitioner argued that the trial court's instructions on the inferences that the jury might draw from unexplained possession of the drugs constituted violations of his privilege against self-incrimination by penalizing him for not testifying about his possession of the drugs. ”

“ Fifth, the flow of legally imported opium and of legally manufactured morphine and codeine is controlled too tightly to permit any significant possibility that heroin is manufactured or distributed by those legally licensed to deal in opium, morphine, or codeine. ”

“ Imports of crude opium have been sufficient to meet all domestic medical and scientific needs and the United States is therefore not an opium-producing country. Blum & Braunstein, Mind-Altering Drugs and Dangerous Behavior ”

“ Brief for the United States 18 n. 12.↑ The Narcotics Manufacturing Act of 1960, 74 Stat. 55, 21 U.S.C. §§ 501-517, prohibits the manufacture of narcotic drugs except under a license issued by the Secretary of the Treasury for the production of an approved drug. Since heroin is not considered useful for medical purposes, no production for medical use has been authorized; heroin used in scientific experimentation is supplied entirely from quantities seized by law enforcement officials. Brief for the United States, 17 n. ”

“ The jury returned a verdict of guilty on each count. Petitioner was sentenced to consecutive terms of 10 years' imprisonment on the first and third counts; a five-year term on the second count was to run concurrently with the term on the first count and a five-year term on the fourth count was to run concurrently with the term on the third count. ”

“ This fact together with the facts that opium poppies are hard to conceal because of their color and that the harvesting of opium is only economically feasible in countries with an abundant supply of cheap labor justifies a conclusion that little if any opium poppy production is going on in this country. See Brief for the United States, 21-23.↑ 21 U.S.C. § 173.↑ Ibid. See supra, n. 12.↑ In 1966, the United States imported 173,951 kilograms of crude opium; in the same year, 715 Kilograms of morphine and 30,662 kilgrams of codeine were produced from imported opium. ”

“ United States v. Peeples, supra; Vick v. United States, 113 U.S.App.D.C. 12, 304 F.2d 379 (1962) ; Griego v. United States, supra; Walker v. United States, 285 F.2d 52 (C.A.5th Cir. 1960) ; United States v. ”