Suspected Burglars Arrested for Drugs and Paraphernalia
Two Nevada men were arrested last week for a variety of drug violations. They were originally stopped because police thought they were burglars. Turns out they were not burglars, but both had warrants out for their arrests. When the cops searched the men before they were transported to jail, the police found, among other contraband, pipes that contained residue from methamphetamines and marijuana.
Pursuant to California’s “possession of drug paraphernalia” law, if the pipes were exclusively used to smoke marijuana, the men would not be subject to prosecution under this law. Possessing devices for smoking marijuana is not prohibited by California law. However, if, in fact, traces or residue of methamphetamines were found in the pipes, the pipes would clearly be illegal.
Yet even with that, there are still a number of legal defenses to California’s “possession of drug paraphernalia law”. Unless the prosecution can prove that you (1) knew of the paraphernalia’s presence, and (2) knew that the object was, in fact, paraphernalia, you can’t be convicted of this law.
