With medical marijuana legal in California and an increasing movement toward the legalization of recreational marijuana for adults 21 years of age and older, it’s easy to think that the decriminalization of marijuana has occurred across the board. However, under California Health & Safety Code § 11360, the sale and transport of marijuana is illegal.
Specific Prohibitions
Under HS 11360, it is a crime for any amount of marijuana to be:
- Sold
- Given away
- Imported into the state
- Transported for sale
HS 11360 will be prosecuted as either a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the quantity of marijuana involved, the type of marijuana, and if transporting or sale were involved.
Exceptions
Under California’s Compassionate Use Act of 1996, medical marijuana users with a valid prescription may transport marijuana for their personal use, and caregivers can transport reasonable amounts for patients’ use.
28.5 Grams or Less
If you give away or transport for sale 28.5 grams or less, which is equivalent to one ounce, you will be charged with a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of $100 and no jail time. However, your Santa Ana criminal attorney will caution that this does not apply to the sale of marijuana.
More than 28.5 Grams
Transporting or giving away more than an ounce or any amount of concentrated marijuana (hashish) is considered a felony and punishable by two, three or four years in county jail.
Import or Sale
The importation or sale of any usable amount of marijuana is prosecuted as a felony with two, three or four years of jail as exposure.
Federal Law
The federal Controlled Substances Act classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 hallucinogenic with no accepted medical uses. A first offense for sale of less than 50 kilograms of marijuana or less than 50 plants is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
This supersedes state law and technically every sale, gift, import or transport of marijuana in California is a federal crime, even for those with a medical marijuana prescription. As a practical matter, however, the feds typically only go after large scale import and sales operations and ignore individuals. One exception may be federal land that is located in California. Consequently, you may be prosecuted for a federal offense if you sold marijuana in a post office, federal court, federal building or national park, as an example.
