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What is Possession of Drug Paraphernalia? |
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Possession of drug paraphernalia means having drug paraphernalia on your person, in your car, or in a place (like your home) that you have control over, even if you are not present at that place. Drug paraphernalia is any item, equipment, product or material of any kind, which is used, designed, marketed or intended for use with a controlled substance.
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Penalties: |
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What Defenses Are There? |
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Mere Presence: |
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If the alleged perpetrator is only in the presence of the drug paraphernalia without having the right to use or control it, he might be innocent. For example, if a husband and wife are in a car together and the husband knows the wife has rolling papers for marijuana on her, he is not guilty of possessing it himself. |
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Lack of Knowledge: |
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If the alleged perpetrator does not know that an item he possesses is being used by someone else for drug purposes, he might be innocent. For example, if a husband is using his wife’s kitchen scale to measure drugs, she is not guilty of possessing drug paraphernalia if she doesn’t know it’s going on or permit it. |
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Not for Drug Use: |
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Items that might be used for drug purposes only become drug paraphernalia when they are actually used for that purpose. If you have rolling papers and you are rolling your own cigarettes with regular tobacco, you are not guilty of possessing drug paraphernalia even though they could be used for marijuana cigarettes.
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Valid License to Grow Medical Marijuana: |
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If someone possesses a valid caretaker’s license to grow medical marijuana in Michigan, they would be permitted to possess items needed for its cultivation, even though they would otherwise be drug paraphernalia. |
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Valid Prescription for Medical Marijuana: |
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If you have a prescription or you have a condition which would make you eligible to get a medical marijuana prescription, you have a recognized defense. |
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Related topics |
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