Sunday Afternoon, Mark Was Arrested for the Possession of Marijuana

question 52

Essay

Sunday afternoon, Mark was arrested for the possession of marijuana. In his defense, he told the police that he has been diagnosed with a bleeding ulcer. Every time he eats, he vomits, causing him to no longer want to eat. He bought and smoked the marijuana to increase his appetite to reduce the pain of the ulcer. He has no insurance and over-the-counter medications do not stop him from vomiting. Is this a crime of necessity? Why or why not? What are the criteria for the necessity defense? Analyze this case by applying the elements of necessity. Choose a position, come to a conclusion, and argue why Mark would be found guilty or not guilty.

---

Definitions:

Continuous Probability Distributions

Mathematical functions that represent the probabilities of all possible values in an unbroken (continuous) range.

Exponential Distributions

A type of continuous probability distribution that is often used to model the time between independent events that happen at a constant average rate.

Uniform Probability Distribution

A continuous probability distribution for which the probability that the random variable will assume a value in any interval is the same for each interval of equal length.

Continuous Random Variable

A Continuous Random Variable is a variable that can take an infinite number of values within a given range.