You have to give the guy credit though - he tries to preemptively refute the obvious "baking soda has innocent uses" argument.

I like his chutzpah!

I call no shenanigans! Best.line.ever.

16½ years for baking crack? Seems a bit excessive.

There is actually some kind of precedent to support the plantiff's argument. Remember the case of Sam Zhadanov, who was imprisoned and had his company forfeited - for manufacturing perfume bottles (or "crack vials" as the DEA preferred to call them).

Excessive punishment for crack cocaine crimes? Welcome to federal sentencing.

Is this a joke? Please tell me it is.

He is in for trafficking, not just using.

Lawers (and the like) are like artists: 99% of what they produce is sh*t, or "Art for art's sake". The remaining 1% has meaning, purpose and most people will enjoy it.
The above is a prime example of "Lawering for Lawering's sake". It may be a kind of game where the winner out-smarts the spirit of a law, or uses a loop-hole to, and for his/her advantage, but the end result is that society around them degrages little by little.
Thanks, Ass Holes

But he wasn;t convicted of "using baking powder to make crack cocaine". He was convicted of making crack cocaine and the sentence would have been the same no matter what "agent" he used to mix it up.

This guy isn't a lawyer. He's a prisoner proceeding "pro se," meaning that he is representing himself.

The guy is stuck in prison for over 15 years. He has nothing better to do with his time than come up with crazy theories like this one.

I don't know if this is real or not.. What kind of lawyer is this? There are sentences that make no sense. And is there such a thing as: Petersburg Low Federal Institution... or did he mean LAW... Wow the laws in the US sure are strange...

This is amusing but lame. This is the same as suing Spalding for failure to warn that bouncing their basketball while smoking cocaine could lead to imprisonment or death. Every product will have a 200 page fan-out warning label if we need to start stating every single thing you can't use the product in conjunction with (for non medicines). It should be assumed that anything illegal will get you busted regardless of what other non illegal items are involved in the crime. This case shouldnt last 10 minutes.

You have got to be kidding me, insane he is. I hope his claim is thrown out. His lawyers should be disbarred. So Silly.

This is hilarious. It's like a parody of so many stupid lawsuits.

Like suing McDonald's for making your ass fat. I'm lovin' it!

What's next? Warnings on candles, matches, cigarette lighters, aluminum foil, steel wool & spoons that using these products can lead to jail! This is a waste of paper, time and energy - he needs another 200 months for the crime of STUPID!

this is ridiculous. perhaps he should not have been making crack in the first place. cocaine is illegal anyway. what is next? putting warnings on any and every little thing that can possibly be used to manufacture or alter illegal drugs? if this guy wins, there is no justice in this world.

Apparently we need to put a warning on ALL articles which can be purchased at the store indicating that using them in conjunction with anything inherently illegal is, in fact, ILLEGAL. OMG. Only in the U.S.A. would this be allowed to be submitted into a court of law.

This is absolutely hilarious. I can't wait to see if this flies or not. You gotta give the guy credit, he must have stayed up nights thinking THIS one up.

Then they need to post on the warnings also, if you mix this with - insert your favorite lethal substance - and ingest, it could be harmful to you ----- completely asinine and I call SHENANIGANS!

I've never seen such poor grammar on a legal document.

How can he expect for such a ridiculous claim to be taken seriously if he doesn't even try to look professional?

From the other posters it's obvious that people aren't familiar with IFPs / pro se litigants. This guy has no lawyer. He has a law library that he gets a little time to use in prison but no legal training.

This is probably one of the best IFP / pro se complaints I have read. At least it seems to raise a somewhat cognizable claim under a law. Sure, it's probably jurisdictionaly defective and not within the limits of the state commonlaw duty to warn. However, it actually makes factual allegations, which is more than many IFP complaints do.

This is exactly what is wrong with the United States justice system. What a joke. The guy is distributing one of the absolute most addictive street drugs that DESTROYS peoples lives then proceeds to sue Arm and Hammer. Like he didn't know he could go to prison for distributing this poison.

I think 16.5 years for distibution of Crack is right on the money....and if he wins, that money should go to addiction research and rehabilitation programs, not this clown.

Anonymous 3:13 is right. This is very clever and his claim is substantive and demonstrates a knowledge of how product liability claims work and the issues that must be overcome. A crack dealer wrote this. I used it to study failure to warn, and if my torts professor were to put this on the exam I'd say fair play.

Wow! He is going to be one rich drug addict.

You know, I actually think he has a point. The warning of "enhanced penalties" seems completely reasonable.

As an example, I can't imagine that there would be enhanced penalties if you cooked cocaine in a mix with ketchup.

But there definitely is if you cook it with baking soda! So yes, I think a warning is a very good idea.

While he's at it, he should sue every car manufacturer out there for not warning him that using his automobile to promote an illegal activity could get him in trouble with law enforcement.

Sue Toyota for failing to warn that if you drive drunk you'll go to jail?

My understanding is that the federal sentencing guidelines treats one hundred grams of powder cocaine the same as one gram of crack cocaine. This provision's constitutionality has been repeatedly attacked and those attacks have failed.

Because of that his argument sounds valid.

The only problem with the argument is that a manufacturer should not be held liable for failure to warn its consumers about illegal use of its products.

We must remember that these fuckers have little else to do than clog the courts with this bs. They should start tacking on 10 months for every time they file a lawsuit that is so obviously frivolous. What's next- sue glass producers cuz it can be used to make crack pipes? Or plastic makers because you had crack in that type of container?

I no longer have respect for the American legal system lol. Soon doctors will be sued for not telling women that it is gonna hurt when she gives birth in 3 forms of writing JEEZ!

The Arm & Hammer box also fails to warn the consumer that mixing with vinegar can make a mess, especially at fourth grade science fair competitions.

Ammonia (or any weak base, for that matter) can be used to turn cocaine hydrochloride into crack. Alas, our ballsy plaintiff forgot that potential defendant.

Bronco & Matt - well, you can be sure that bleach manufacturers will be sued for not revealing that their product can be used to produce Napalm. ;) (Of course, such warnings serve little purpose aside from giving people ideas....)

I was actually impressed by his brief, until I got past the first paragraph. Still, someone's been spending time in the library.

Almost as bad as "Danger: Sharp" seen on knives.

Or "Do not eat package, eat what is inside package" on Military Ration Packs.

What's next: "Danger: May cause pain, injury, or death" on Rifles issued to Soldiers and Pistols issued to Police Officers?

Actually, the "Danger: Sharp" on knives might not be that crazy. Haven't some people filed a class action against gun manufacturers, arguing that guns are - surprise - dangerous?

This has got to be one of the most worthless lawsuits I have ever seen. If this passes, not only does a crack dealer get millions of dollars for being a jackass, but it sets a precedent...does this mean that now OTC drugs with pseudoephedrine will have a similar warning "WARNING: If you use this product to manufacture Crystal Meth, you may be incarcerated?" This is inane, should be struck down, and the guy should get another 10 years for stupidity...if only it were a crime to be stupid.

It's really funny how you can tell that most of the commentators responding to this post are not lawyers. (Expressing a sense of outrage about anything usually gives it away.) The complaint is actually really good for a pro se. He has picked up on a few subtitle concepts that make his claim sound vaguely actionable.

What's so crazy about it (besides the 450 mil)? Seems like a good way to communicate the seriousness of the laws to a potential crack dealer. That's is the whole point of the law, right? To deter people from making crack by sending them to jail for forever? Informing people that mixing a drug -- that everybody knows is illegal -- with this perfectly legal substance will subject you to 5X the penalties that you may expect furthers that goal.

This ought to be laughed out of court as the "uses of" the product has nothing to do with his possession of, or trafficking in, illegal narcotics. It would be like trying to argue that Black and Decker is liable for a burglar using their screwdriver to break into a house.

1) True, the "uses of" the product have nothing to do with his possession of cocaine. But the "uses of" the product have a lot to do with his possession of crack. Making crack is a well-know use of baking soda.

2) If you think the baking soda is more like a glass cutter or a lock-picking set produced by black and decker than a screwdriver then liability on black and decker makes more sense.

Also, if there is a law that says if you rob a house you go to jail for a year, but if you rob a house with a screwdriver then it's 20 years, perhaps it makes sense to make B&D (which makes a lot of money off of screw driver sales) warn its customers of this surprising twist.

We are ALL entitled to protection, under the laws of this counttry, from the profit-mongers who take advantage of the poor underclass, who's only crime here is trying to earn an income to put themselves closer to the "middle"class, which we can only dream about these days of the Bush administration. Any stockholders of Arm and Hammer products get put away?

Shamrock9

No, actually I don't think you can be put away for trying to earn an income. I think what got him was the making crack.

I think they should make you sign for baking soda like sudafed.

They have taken "Cold Medicines" off store shelves because of it's use in Meth production? Why not Baking Soda? Is it Illegal to possess excessive amounts of "Cold Medicines" in some localities? Why not Baking Soda?

I suppose the thing that bothers me (since the pleading, itself, is just another example of, as one poster put it, "too much time on this guy's hands") is that many of the posters here thought that the it was authored by a lawyer.
Hmmm... reading skills, vocabulary skills, comprehension.... Put it all together and it spells: this guy ain't a lawyer. (Hint: Pro se.)
Anyways, anything for lawyer bashing, right?
Hey, ever since we wrote the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence (not to mention the Emancipation Proclamation) people have been giving us crap.
Brad

Half the sentences don't even make sense. It's like he starts one thought, then moves onto what may or may not be another thought without even a punctuation mark to separate them.

The judge will at least get a good laugh out of it- if not for the stupidity of the suit, for the fact that his writing style couldn't make it more obvious that this guy has done a LOT of crack!

This guy definitely established standing

most of the comments on this suit are missing the point entirely. if this man was white and selling coke, he'd do a few months. add baking soda, you get 15 years. an example of the race and class war masking as a 'drug war' at its finest!
Best of luck, George!

most of the comments on this suit are missing the point entirely. if this man was white and selling coke, he'd do a few months. add baking soda, you get 15 years. an example of the race and class war masking as a 'drug war' at its finest!
Best of luck, George!

he should sue god for failing to warm him that he would end up a retarded crackhead.