Q&A Regarding Marijuana Cases in Court

This is a Q&A someone sent me between some guy and a lawyer in the area who works on Marijuana cases. Please read, and enjoy.





> Hello,
>
> I have a few questions. I know that free legal advice is generally not something lawyers give out, but I figured I'd give it a shot anyhow. If you do not feel comfortable answering these questions, I understand, and I appreciate you taking your time to read this email. Please note that all situations I provide are purely hypothetical, but that I will be referring to the situations in the first person so as to make it easier to write.
>
> I am a citizen in Maine, I am over 18, live in the Greater Portland area, and have a class C driver's liscence. I do not believe in selling marijuana, only cultivation for personal use.
>
>
> 1) In general, how do you think the Maine courts deal with marijuana cases? Harsh, lenient, etc?
>
> 2) If for some reason I am charged with cultivating cannabis (less than 5 plants), and those plants are only for personal use, how do you think most courts within Maine would respond to that?
>
> 3) If I am also sharing that marijuana with friends at no cost, would it change the outcome? An example would be me and a few friends at a party, and I'm passing them a joint I rolled out of my marijuana.
>
> 4) I am unclear about the laws regarding paraphenalia. Obviously "head shops" are not being beat down every day for selling paraphenalia, so that makes me think that there is some situation that "makes" an object paraphenalia. Would you speak to this?
>
> 5) I am unsure how a police officer would respond to a dirty bong/pipe if they saw it in my car, even if there was no marijuana in the car (not counting the resin in the smoking device).
>
> Once again, I want to thank you for taking your time to answer these questions. Hopefully I'll never have to hire you to be my lawer, if you know what I mean. :)
>
> Thanks,
> Anonymous

Hello: Sorry for not getting back to you sooner, I have been out of state in a trial but am back now. In answer to your questions - from me experience, and comparing with the experiences of my colleagues in other states, it is my opinion that the maine state courts deal rather leniently with marijuana offenses - the state courts, not the federal courts in Maine. If you had less than 5 plants and could qualify as an eligible patient under the medical marijuana law, you would not have broken a law at all. If you were not an eligible patient, I suspect that a DA would charge you with a class D misdemeanor for fewer than 5 plants, I don't have my criminal statutes here with me, I suspect he COULD charge you higher, but probably wouldn't - of course, if you had priors, that would change. If you were only passing joint around, and the cops showed up, you would probably only be charged with possession of a useable amount of marijuana - a civil violation with a fine, not a criminal offense. Possession of paraphenalia is also only a civil violation unless they could link it to traffiking - like a couple set of scales and bags. Paraphenalia is not clearly defined, but usually items that are typically not used for anything other than drug use would be included in the category. Things that could be used for drug use or cultivation - such as rolling papers, shovels, fertilizer, baking supplies, stuff like that- would usually not be charged as paraphenalia because they have other uses. With just a bong, he might charge you with paraphenalia - depends on his mood.
Hope this helps, contact me if you want any clarification. Remember, these are just my opinions, every cop is different and every police force has its unwritten policies. The MDEA, eg, I am told through a source, rarely touches a case with less than 50 plants. Local forces, however, particularly in small towns with not much else to do, will bust someone with 5 plants.

MDEA

http://www.maine.gov/dps/Mdea/homepage.htm

I got busted for passing a joint. I thought it would just get charged with possession (civil violation), but i got criminally charged with "attempted aggravated furnishing a class "Z" drug."

i got busted with 150 plants in maine and was treated with lieniency... they dropped it to a misdemeanor and gave me 1 year probation and $1000 dollar fine.no jail not too shabby. it should also be noted that from 6-99 plants in maine is only a misdemeanor anyway... equal to stealing a candy bar or trespassing