
Quoting
zxcvasdfqwer
I was ticketed the other day by UCPD for smoking pot. I didn't posess any on me though since my friend had it so the only violation that appears on my ticket states 11364.7(a) HS - Drug paraphernalia. The comments section states: sodacan glass bowl/marijuana res.
Methinks someone goofed when they charged you with this section for possession of a marijuana pipe (which is not per se unlawful as it is generally considered to be a tobacco pipe).
The section you were cited for requires your possession to be with the intent to transfer it to someone else for the use of ingesting drugs, not to ingest it yourself.
11364.7. (a) Except as authorized by law, any person who delivers,furnishes, or transfers, possesses with intent to deliver, furnish,
or transfer, or manufactures with the intent to deliver, furnish, or
transfer, drug paraphernalia, knowing, or under circumstances where
one reasonably should know, that it will be used to plant, propagate,
cultivate, grow, harvest, 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, except as provided in subdivision (b), in
violation of this division, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
The section is used for transferring pipes and needles and the ilk, not marijuana pipes. It's a novel approach, but I think they will have a hard time proving the elements of this offense.
I'm wondering however if it was proper for the police to ticket me for just possession of drug paraphernalia without also charging me with possession of marijuana. Does anyone know anything about this?
Yep, it was fine. And you wanna know why they might have done it? Well, I'll tell ya a couple of reasons ... (1) It could be that the "residue" in the pipe is not enough to constitute a "usable amount" in order to pursue a charge for marijuana possession. And, (2), a simple marijuana possession charge is purged from the system in two years by law - a paraphernalia charge can remain forever. So, unless we have to, we often do not bother charging the marijuana possession ... heck, a traffic violation tends to have a heftier fine and stay on your record longer than a marijuana ticket!
Consult local counsel.
- Carl