Marijuana & Drug Paraphernalia

Pleading guilty to marijuana or drug paraphernalia possession will cause you to have a drug conviction on your permanent criminal record, which can prevent you from getting a job, renting an apartment, obtaining a bank loan, or getting federal student aid for college. In addition, you could lose your federally subsidized housing if you are convicted of a drug-related misdemeanor.

Some police officers incorrectly tell defendants that their marijuana or drug paraphernalia ticket is just like a speeding ticket. That information is wrong. If you plead guilty or are convicted of possession of misdemeanor marijuana or drug paraphernalia in Missouri, you will have a drug conviction on your permanent criminal record, which can prevent you from getting a job, renting an apartment, or getting a bank loan. It could also cause you to lose scholarships and federal student aid for college.

The maximum punishment for possession of 35 grams or less of marijuana or drug paraphernalia is a fine of $2,000 and 1 year in jail. For a first-time offender charged with possession of 10 grams or less of marijuana or drug paraphernalia, the maximum fine is $500 with no possibility of jail time. The maximum penalty for 11-35 grams of marijuana is 1 year in jail and a $2,000 fine, which is the same as for a prior offender charged with 10 grams or less of marijuana or drug paraphernalia.

The maximum penalty is a fine of $500 but no jail time for a first-time offender charged with possession of drug paraphernalia or 10 grams or less of marijuana, but you will end up with a drug conviction on your permanent criminal record if you plead guilty. If you have prior drug convictions on your criminal record, the maximum penalty for possession of drug paraphernalia or 10 grams or less of marijuana is 1 year in jail and a $2,000 fine.

If you are under age 21 and you get caught with marijuana, you can be charged under Missouri’s “Abuse & Lose” law. If you plead guilty or are convicted under the “Abuse & Lose” law, your driver’s license will be suspended for 90 days to 1 year. The length of the suspension depends on whether your case is being prosecuted in municipal court or state circuit court, and whether you have prior convictions on your criminal record.

If you change your mind after pleading guilty to drug charges, you can hire an attorney to withdraw your guilty plea and set aside the conviction. Your attorney will negotiate a plea bargain deal with the Prosecutor to get your drug charges dismissed or reduced to a lesser offense, such as “Littering.” It may be more difficult to set aside the conviction if too much time has passed since your guilty plea, or if you were represented by an attorney when you pleaded guilty.

A new Missouri law will take effect on January 1, 2018 making it possible to get misdemeanor marijuana and drug paraphernalia convictions expunged (removed) from your criminal record if you have had a clean record for 3 years from the date of the final disposition of your case. It is more expensive to have an attorney expunge convictions after the fact, as opposed to getting charges dismissed or reduced to a lesser offense when you first receive the tickets. In addition, the new law will impose a lifetime limit of 2 misdemeanor expungements per defendant.

Some defendants choose to have a trial instead of accepting a plea bargain deal for their marijuana or paraphernalia ticket. It will cost much more to have a court trial than to negotiate a plea bargain, and there is always the possibility that you will lose. It may be worth it if you can afford the expense of a trial, and if there is strong evidence that the search of your car or home that led to the discovery of the drugs or paraphernalia was an illegal search. However, if you lose the trial, you will no longer be able to negotiate a plea bargain deal, and the judge may sentence you to up to 1 year in jail and a fine of $2,000.