Drug possession crimes can range in severity from minor simple possession charges for a few ounces of marijuana to severe charges for possessing or transporting massive quantities of drugs. If you are arrested, it could mean years in prison.
Our attorneys seek to get charges dropped, dismissed, and reduced. We fight for our clients’ rights and fight for release on bail, reduced sentences, and to win the case at trial.
For your free case evaluation, call our drug possession attorneys at Kenny, Burns & McGill today at (215) 423-5500.
Simple Possession Charges in Philadelphia
Pennsylvania’s drug possession charges can be broken down into two major types. Simple possession is for smaller quantities of drugs held for personal use rather than delivery to another person (covered under “possession with intent to deliver”).
Simple possession charges come under 35 Pa.C.S. § 780-113(a)(16). There is no specific amount requirement, so whether you have a small quantity of drugs or large amounts, as long as you intended only to have them or use them yourself, charges should not be upgraded.
However, sentencing can change based on the drug and whether it is your first or subsequent offense.
Possession With Intent to Distribute (PWID) Charges in Philadelphia
The more serious charge is possession with the intent to distribute (PWID). This is not a drug trafficking statute per se, but it criminalizes simply having drugs if you intend to give them to someone else.
PWID charges come under § 780-113(a)(30). Whether you meant to transfer the drugs to friends for free, sell them to others, or transport them as part of drug trafficking, this is the statute you are charged under.
Charges for possession with intent to deliver can change depending on the specific drug, the amount, and how many priors you have. For example, possessing fentanyl, heroin, or cocaine is a more serious crime than possessing marijuana, and a second offense has higher penalties than a first offense.
Possession of Prescription Drugs
Having your own drugs that were prescribed to you is not illegal. A simple mix-up with your prescription drugs in a different container with no label can be resolved in court. However, other criminal charges for prescription drugs might be valid.
If you have drugs that were prescribed to you, but you are delivering them to someone else or selling them, that is still illegal. This often happens on college campuses, with students giving extra pills to friends or selling them. Our drug possession attorneys can fight these charges by challenging the government’s evidence that you intended to give them to anyone in the first place.
Drugs that are often prescribed can also end up being sold as street drugs. The fact that something like Vicodin, Percocet, or OxyContin can be prescribed does not save you from being charged if you do not have a prescription for drugs you purchased or intend to sell illegally.
Challenging Searches and Seizures
Most drug possession charges involve an officer stopping you or entering your house or car to search for drugs. If police have permission to search you, they can do this; otherwise, they need probable cause for most searches.
Pat-Downs
Police can pat you down for weapons during a police encounter only if they had reasonable suspicion to initiate the stop and reasonably need to for officer safety. Once they do, if they can immediately identify drugs through touch, they can seize them.
This claim is often upheld in court, but an officer’s claim that they identified drugs through a thick coat or sweatshirt might not be believable.
Searches
Before a more thorough search of your person, your bags, your house, or your car, police need probable cause. This must be based on more than just a hunch and needs actual evidence. For example, if an officer saw you smoking a joint, smelled that it was marijuana, and saw you hide it on your person, they might have enough to search you.
Searches during traffic stops and home searches often require more thorough proof.
Search Warrants
Before a home search, police need evidence like seeing drugs inside through the window, or they must get a warrant. The warrant can sometimes be skipped if they have cause to believe you would destroy evidence in the time it takes to get a warrant.
Challenges
If reasonable suspicion and probable cause were missing, we can suppress evidence they seized. Suppression stops police and prosecutors from using illegal evidence and might ruin the entire case against you if they cannot use the drugs as evidence.
What Do Prosecutors Need to Prove for Possession Charges?
Sometimes people with drugs in their car or on their person do not know the drugs are there. This should make charges illegal, as knowledge is an important element of drug possession charges.
Possession can either be “actual” – where the drugs are on the person or in a bag – or “constructive” – where the drugs are stored in a place the person has access to. In either case, the police must also show that they knew the drugs were there.
Actual Possession
When drugs are in your hands, in your pockets, or in your backpack, it makes it hard to claim you did not know they were there. However, the government still needs to prove you knew they were drugs.
Constructive Possession
Constructive possession needs both access and knowledge.
Something like having a roommate can complicate constructive possession charges. For example, if you did not know your roommate had a stash in a common area, you might have had access to it but no knowledge there were drugs there. Alternatively, you might have suspected your roommate had drugs, but they were in a locked safe in their room where you had no access.
Similar considerations exist when someone brings drugs into your car. If you are pulled over and someone has drugs within your reach, but you did not know they were there, you should not be charged.
Call Our Drug Possession Defense Lawyers in Philadelphia Today
For a free case review, call Kenny, Burns & McGill’s drug possession lawyers at (215) 423-5500.
