Cite as: 511 U. S. 513 (1994)
Opinion of the Court
Mishra, 979 F. 2d, at 307; United States v. Murphy, 977 F. 2d 503, 506 (CA10 1992); Schneiderman, 968 F. 2d, at 1567; United States v. 57,261 Items of Drug Paraphernalia, 869 F. 2d 955, 957 (CA6), cert. denied, 493 U. S. 933 (1989), and this Court in Hoffman Estates interpreted the arguably parallel phrase "marketed for use" as describing "a retailer's intentional display and marketing of merchandise," 455 U. S., at 502, and thus requiring scienter. On the other hand, there is greater ambiguity in the phrase "primarily intended . . . for use" than in the phrase "marketed for use." The term "primarily intended" could refer to the intent of non-defendants, including manufacturers, distributors, retailers, buyers, or users. Several considerations lead us to conclude that "primarily intended . . . for use" refers to a product's likely use rather than to the defendant's state of mind.
First, the structure of the statute supports an objective interpretation of the "primarily intended . . . for use" standard. Section 857(d) states that drug paraphernalia "includes items primarily intended or designed for use in" consuming specified illegal drugs, "such as . . . ," followed by a list of 15 items constituting per se drug paraphernalia. The inclusion of the "primarily intended" term along with the "designed for use" term in the introduction to the list of per se paraphernalia suggests that at least some of the per se items could be "primarily intended" for use with illegal drugs irrespective of a particular defendant's intent—that is, as an objective matter. Moreover, § 857(e) lists eight objective factors that may be considered "in addition to all other logically relevant factors" in "determining whether an item constitutes drug paraphernalia." 7 These factors generally
7 Section 857(e) provides: "In determining whether an item constitutes drug paraphernalia, in addition to all other logically relevant factors, the following may be considered:
"(1) instructions, oral or written, provided with the item concerning its use;
519
Page: Index Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007