Ch. 509                                    1994 LAWS OF MARYLAND

Approved May 26, 1994.

CHAPTER 509
(Senate Bill 710)

AN ACT concerning

Commission on White Collar Dealers of Illegal Drugs

FOR the purpose of creating a Commission on White Collar Dealers of Illegal Drugs;
establishing that the Commission shall consist of a certain number of
representatives; requiring the Governor to appoint certain representatives to serve
on the Commission and to designate the chairman of the Commission; providing the
compensation and staff for the Commission; requiring the Commission to submit
certain findings and recommendations to certain committees of the General
Assembly by a certain date; providing for the termination of this Act; providing for -
the effective date of this Act; defining certain terms; and generally relating to the
Commission on White Collar Dealers of Illegal Drugs.

BY adding to                                            .

Article 41 - Governor - Executive and Administrative Departments

Section 18-306

Annotated Code of Maryland

(1993 Replacement Volume)

Preamble

WHEREAS, A successful war on illegal drugs requires fighting simultaneously on
two fronts: the importer wholesaler supply side, and the demand side; and

WHEREAS, The importation and wholesale distribution of illegal drugs involve the
willing participation or assistance of a wide variety of businessmen such as accountants,
bankers, and other "white collar" dealers who supply vehicles, weapons, and other
equipment for illegal drug dealers, "launder" money, and otherwise provide the necessary
expertise to keep the enormous flow of illegal drug money hidden from public scrutiny;

and

WHEREAS, The white collar dealers who participate in the importation and
wholesale distribution of illegal drugs earn tens of thousands of dollars a week and are
responsible for crimes of institutional destabilization, such as bribery and corruption; and

WHEREAS, White collar dealers who participate in the importation and wholesale
distribution of illegal drugs are not being pursued and prosecuted at the rate they need to
be, as evidenced by the fact that in Baltimore City, during a recent 10-month period in
the Felony Arraignment Court, 85% of all the felony related cases (7,352) were
drug related cases, but not one involved a dealer at the import or wholesale level; and

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