The Needle Marks

California Health and Safety Code § 11721 made it a criminal misdemeanor for any person to "use, or be under the influence of, or be addicted to the use of narcotics." On January 14, 1960, an officer of the Los Angeles Police Department's Narcotic Division stopped the Defendant and examined him. The officer observed discolorations and scabs on the Defendant's arms which he identified, based on more than ten years of narcotics enforcement experience, as the result of hypodermic needle injections — "track marks." The scabs were several days old. The Defendant was not under the influence of narcotics at the time, nor was he suffering withdrawal symptoms. He admitted to Police that he had previously used narcotics and that he was an addict. A clinical expert who examined the Defendant after his arrest confirmed the track marks. At trial, the Defendant denied the conversations with Police and denied ever using narcotics, but the jury believed the Prosecution witnesses. The trial Court instructed the jury that "addiction" under the statute meant being "strongly disposed to a taste or practice or habit of its use, indicated by the use of narcotics often or daily." He was sentenced to 90 days in jail, followed by a two-year parole with mandatory periodic drug tests.