ABSTRACT
In the eyes of many, substance abuse is a matter of personal poor judgment in decision making. In spite of signicant popular and scientic literature suggesting that addiction is a condition that has at least some organic and genetic inputs, having a drug or alcohol problem still equates with having a character deciency. e law reects this not uncommon perspective in that “being under the inuence” of mind-altering substances is not exculpatory unless involuntary ingestion is involved. Furthermore, as is seen below, substance abuse may lead to enhancement of sentence severity. However, substance abuse has also been mitigating for sentencing purposes, ranging from an explicit armative defense in California of “diminished actuality” to nebulous “wastebasket” mitigation clauses that permit the defendant to raise any factors of possible consequence. Forensic evaluation focused on the sentencing phase thus takes place in a complex and oen uncertain legal context.
