Drug Possession

Many state or city drug charges arise out of unplanned events or arrests in conjunction with something else. For example, many drug arrests are made after a plain traffic stop and the officer ends up finding marijuana or other drugs on the person or in the vehicle. This can sometimes lead to a suppression issues leading to dismissal of the case. Sometimes drug related arrests are made through a planned bust, often accompanied with federal, rather than state charges. Also, I have experienced local law enforcement setting traps for people regarding drug sales, leading to state charges. This happens when one person is threatened with drug charges and the officer makes a deal not to charge them if they agree to become a snitch. This often requires the snitch to wear a wire and convince one of their acquaintances to sell them drugs three times. The whole event is recorded by the officer and used in court later.

The following is the Kansas statute for drug possession charges.

K.S.A. 21-36a06. Unlawful possession of controlled substances .It shall be unlawful for any person to possess any opiates, opium or narcotic drugs, or any stimulant designated in subsection (d)(1), (d)(3) or (f)(1) of K.S.A. 65-4107, and amendments thereto, or a controlled substance analog thereof. (b) It shall be unlawful for any person to possess any of the following controlled substances or controlled substance analogs thereof: (1) Any depressant designated in subsection (e) of K.S.A. 65-4105, subsection (e) of K.S.A. 65-4107, subsection (b) or (c) of K.S.A. 65-4109 or subsection (b) of K.S.A. 65-4111, and amendments thereto; (2) any stimulant designated in subsection (f) of K.S.A. 65-4105, subsection (d)(2), (d)(4) or (f)(2) of K.S.A. 65-4107 or subsection (e) of K.S.A. 65-4109, and amendments thereto; (3) any hallucinogenic drug designated in subsection (d) of K.S.A. 65-4105, subsection (g) of K.S.A. 65-4107 or subsection (g) of K.S.A. 65-4109, and amendments thereto; (4) any substance designated in subsection (g) of K.S.A. 65-4105 and subsection (c), (d), (e), (f) or (g) of K.S.A. 65-4111, and amendments thereto; (5) any anabolic steroids as defined in subsection (f) of K.S.A. 65-4109, and amendments thereto; or (6) any substance designated in K.S.A. 65-4113, and amendments thereto. (c) (1) Violation of subsection (a) is a drug severity level 4 felony; (2) violation of subsection (b) is a class A nonperson misdemeanor, except that, violation of subsection (b)(1) through (b)(5) is a drug severity level 4 felony if that person has a prior conviction under such subsection, under K.S.A. 65-4162 prior to its repeal, under a substantially similar offense from another jurisdiction, or under any city ordinance or county resolution for a substantially similar offense if the substance involved was 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), marijuana or tetrahydrocannabinol as designated in subsection (d) of K.S.A. 65-4105, and amendments thereto. (d) It shall not be a defense to charges arising under this section that the defendant was acting in an agency relationship on behalf of any other party in a transaction involving a controlled substance.

One concern when dealing with drug charges, is whether the prosecutor is inclined to pursue drug sale charges, which is much more serious. However, they have to prove an intent to sale. This can be inferred through evidence of recorded conversations, scales, separate baggies, and accompanying money.