At the risk of sounding like a lawyer, drug paraphernalia is anything that can be used to inject or put a drug into your body. Anything that a cop or a prosecutor can think of that you might use to do drugs. These are usually misdemeanor charges.
Say you’re using a one-hitter to smoke marijuana, and all the marijuana is gone, that is enough. You were using it to smoke marijuana. That is the argument.
I have seen paraphernalia charges even come out of empty bags. Of course, we fight those fights, and we win very often. The thing about paraphernalia is that it is often a tacked-on charge with a bunch of other things and no one really cares about it. Or, the cop or the prosecutor really cares about catching the person, and they use this charge to make things worse.
I have a lot of clients that walk into my office, sit down, and say, but they’re selling this to me at a store, how can it possibly be illegal? Well, the store would say, ‘we can’t control what you’re using it for, we sold it for use with tobacco.’ The cops will say, ‘we all know what you were actually using this for, marijuana.’
Paraphernalia is either very easy to deal with, or a huge headache. At the end of the day, the fines are not that much, the jail time is nonexistent, and if you hire the right attorney, you can end up with a pretty good outcome.
MISDEMEANOR DRUG PARAPHERNALIA STATUTE
579.074. Unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia — penalty. —
1. A person commits the offense of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia if he or she knowingly uses, or possesses with intent to use, drug paraphernalia to plant, propagate, cultivate, grow, harvest, manufacture, compound, convert, produce, process, prepare, test, analyze, pack, repack, store, contain, conceal, inject, ingest, inhale, or otherwise introduce into the human body, a controlled substance or an imitation controlled substance in violation of this chapter or chapter 195.
2. The offense of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia is a class D misdemeanor, unless the person has previously been found guilty of any offense of the laws of this state related to controlled substances or of the laws of another jurisdiction related to controlled substances, in which case the violation of this section is a class A misdemeanor. Prior findings of guilt shall be pleaded and proven in the same manner as required by section 558.021.
3. The offense of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia is a class E felony if the person uses, or possesses with intent to use, the paraphernalia in combination with each other to manufacture, compound, produce, prepare, test, or analyze amphetamine or methamphetamine or any of their analogues.
PENALTY OF CONVICTION
Depending on the specifics of the conviction, a misdemeanor drug paraphernalia charge can carry a penalty of up to one year in jail with a fine up to $1000 (class A), or a fine up to $500 (class D).