Caught with marijuana? Here’s what can happen in Kansas City’s various jurisdictions
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Caught with marijuana? Here’s what can happen in Kansas City’s various jurisdictions
Getting caught with marijuana is still illegal in Missouri, and depending on the amount of drugs someone has in their possession when they’re arrested, paying a fine and facing time in jail are almost guaranteed.
However, the type of punishment also depends largely on where they were caught.
Last July, the Kansas City Council voted to remove the crime from the city code, essentially decriminalizing most marijuana possession offenses in much of the city.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said her office would not pursue low-level drug cases and urged Kansas City police to stop sending her office some drug cases unless they were associated with violent criminals.
Baker said her office has created more narrow guidelines and will consider charging drug crimes when a defendant poses a risk to public safety or is disrupting an otherwise calm community.
Punishment for a person ticketed or charged with possessing marijuana ranges from a day in jail to 10 years in prison. Judges are usually more lenient on first-time offenders, and fines may be considerably less.
A fine of up to $10,000 may be imposed, but that largely depends on the amount of weed that a person has in their possession at the time they’re arrested.
Prosecutors in Clay and Platte counties said they would continue to enforce the law and file charges against those caught with the drug.
”Drug crime prosecution is violence prevention,” said Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd. “The illegal drug trade fuels violence in Kansas City. It’s true that many drug crimes are not associated with violence, but, at least in Platte County, the overwhelming majority of violent crimes are associated with drugs.”
Prosecutors in Jackson, Clay and Platte counties say they typically handle hundreds of marijuana possession cases each year.
Missouri recently joined a growing number of states that have made medical marijuana legal. But marijuana use for recreational purposes remains against the law.
In Kansas City, possessing 10 grams or less is a class D misdemeanor, and for the first offense, it is punishable by a fine of up to $500.
With large amounts of marijuana, the fines increase and the punishment becomes more severe.
A person caught with more than 35 grams of marijuana, which is about the size of a small sandwich bag or a baseball, can face a seven-year jail sentence and be ordered to pay a fine of up to $10,000, said Kansas City police Capt. David Jackson.
Someone possessing larger amounts of weed, far more than would constitute “personal use,” can be charged with trafficking drugs. Those crimes are usually handled by federal authorities.
Usually, for a misdemeanor amount of marijuana, police, sheriff’s departments or the Missouri Highway Patrol will write a ticket, which is then forwarded to either the county or municipal prosecutor’s office for review and potential filing.
Defendants have the same rights in a Municipal Court as they would in any other court: They can plead guilty or not guilty and apply for a court appointed lawyer, which is based on income guidelines.
Benita Jones, a spokeswoman with Kansas City Municipal Court, said a defendant can request a trial, where they can present evidence, call witnesses and choose to testify or not. They also can request the case be moved to the circuit court for a jury trial.
The prosecutor has to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Most first-time offenders charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession cases are given the opportunity to complete a diversion program such as drug court that results in charges being dismissed upon successful completion of the program, Zahnd said.
