DePietro v. State

Lowe, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. ²¹⁶ In this appeal from the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, Angela Marie DePietro contests her conviction for violating § 286B of the controlled dangerous substances act (Md. Ann. Code, Art. 27, § 286B (1957, 1982 Repl. Vol.)) which prohibits the distribution of a noncontrolled substance as a controlled dangerous substance. This appeal is predicated solely on the contention that the statute is unconstitutional because it is "not rationally related to the legitimate purposes of the controlled dangerous substances subtitle.” Faced with this issue in appellant’s pretrial motion to dismiss, the trial judge denied the motion finding that the statute had some relation to the public health, welfare and safety. Although appellant’s brief and her pretrial memorandum in support of the motion to dismiss included an argument that the statute was void for vagueness, this aspect was not argued at the hearing or addressed by the judge when he denied the motion, and therefore will not be considered here.

Md. Rule 1085. See White v. State, 23 Md. App. 151, 156 (1974); Vuitch v. State, 10 Md. App. 389, 398 (1970). We will address only the public purpose contention. We note first the test for determining a statute’s constitutionality in that regard: "The test for constitutionality under the Due Process Clause is whether a statute, as an exercise of the state’s police power, bears a real and substantial relation to the public health, morals, safety, and welfare of the citizens of this state.

The exercise by the Legislature of the police power will not be interfered with unless it is shown to be exercised arbitrarily, oppressively or unreasonably. The wisdom or expediency of a law adopted in the exercise of the police power of a state is not subject to judicial review, and the law will not be held void if there are any considerations relating to the public welfare by which it can be supported.” Bowie Inn v. City of Bowie, 274 Md. 230, 236 (1975) (citations omitted). ²¹⁷ The burden of proving that the