Let’s say I’m waiting for a bus. A car pulls up and the driver asks, “Y’know where I can get some weed?” On a lark, I say, “Sure, what do you need?” “A twenty,” he says, naively handing me the money. “I’ll be right back,” I say, then run down an alley, duck into a pizza place, order a large cheese to go, and take a cab home. Have I committed fraud, or any other non-drug-related offense?
Theft by deception? I don’t think it matters that the intent of the other party was to commit an illegal transaction, just makes it tough to explain to the cops.
If it were a legal transaction he could sue you. It being illegal he has no recourse and might kneecap you or worse. That’s why drug laws, like prohibition, leads to so much crime.
Ethically you stole the guys money. You contracted for a service and didn’t provide such. Legally it’s more complex. First of all you can’t contract for illegal things. Well you can but it don’t count. You can sign a hit contract to kill someone but because murder is illegal you can’t enforce it.
So one could argue, that “weed” could mean many things. Maybe the guy loved dandilions. Suppose his yard was full of dandilions and crabgrass and had one bare spot and he wanted some kudzu in it. 
I like the part of your senerio where you purchase pizza. Is this implicate the pizza guy in a trafficing charge?
I was reading on one of those “Odd news of the day” sites, where a lady in Florida bought some Crack and it was fake or something and she called the cops and tried to have the guy that sold it to her arrested and she got arrested.
Or another guy robbed a bank and then ran out and stopped off at a 7-11 and bought some cigarettes before continuing to run away.
Yep. Sadly the scenario posed in the OP, or one like it, happens all the time. The only recourse that exists if someone screws you on a drug deal is violence. There is absolutely no other option for enforcing that sort of contract.
If you went to the pizza place and took a bunch of oregano and passed it off as marijuana, you would be guilty of a crime in some states. Some states have laws against selling counterfeit controlled substances; for example, Ohio.
So, you take a guy’s money and don’t give him what he paid for? If that isn’t fraud, what is? What an asshole you are.
The Feds could come get your pizza, as it was purchased with “drug money.”
Nah, I’m just looking for a place to lie low till my cab shows up.
It’s a hypothetical situation! Relax. Do a bong.
Here you go, officer. Blaaarggh. What do you mean “assault and battery with vomit”? Boy, there’s no pleasing some people.
Reminder: We don’t allow personal attacks in the General Questions forum.
Gfactor
General Questions Moderator
I can see three separate questions (at least) arise out of your hypothetical.
- Has the person receiving the money (let’s call him “pizza man”) committed a crime?
- Can the driver sue pizza man for breach of contract?
- Can the driver sue to get his money back?
Number 2 is the easiest. Probably not. As a general rule, the law does not enforce illegal contracts. There is a cool latin expression for this. I can’t remember what it is.
Number 1 is tougher. Different states define theft/larceny, etc. differently. I’m not sure if it matters that the driver had a criminal intent. I think pizza man either (a) intended to sell the driver drugs and is therefore guilty of that, or (b) did NOT intend to sell him drugs and is therefore guilty of theft by deception or something. But I’m not sure.
Number 3 I’m not sure about either. I think that driver could sue for unjust enrichment or something. Problem with that is that I think it’s an equitable remedy. And therefore a court will look at whether the DRIVER acted equitably. And of course he didn’t, because he acted with the intent to commit a crime.
EDIT - Pressed “go” too early…
Legally speaking I think that is as illegal as if you’d done the same for a legal product (I believe, in most jurisdictions). In addition to that you have also committed a crime by CLAIMING to have the drugs, and entering into a transaction over them (if the guy was an undercover cop you’d still get busted, even if you didn’t have any weed). Though as the previous poster pointed out, probably not civil recourse, legally speaking.
Practically speaking of course, the guy is SOL. This is the basic reason drugs (and other illegal businesses) are link to violence. What can the guy do ? He has no legal recourse realistically (whatever the letter of the law, the police are going to laugh in his face, and maybe give him a ticket, if he goes to them). So he goes and gets a few of his friends (and a gun/knife/baseball-bat), and comes after you. The guys with the scariest friends, and most weapons wins, everyone else is SOL (of course it becomes alot more likely if it a million bucks that if its 20, but the principle is the same). Of course it goes away if you legalize drugs, you just as entitled to legal protection as if you paid for $20 of beer and the guy in the liquor store rips you off.