What Are the Penalties for Growing Marijuana for Trafficking Purposes?

Oklahoma has an interesting relationship with marijuana, with some of the strictest laws in the country about some aspects but relatively permissive medical marijuana rules since 2018. The shift to allow medical marijuana to be not only consumed but also grown by patients, as well as their caregivers, has resulted in some confusion. And since close to 10% of the state population is licensed to use medical marijuana, the average person may be unsure where the line is between what’s allowed and not allowed. If the authorities are accusing you of growing marijuana for the purpose of trafficking it, you’ll want to contact in Oklahoma City drug trafficking lawyer as quickly as possible to build a strong defense.

Trafficking is a standalone statute that is woven into the other laws that pertain to marijuana and all other drugs. Growing marijuana with the intent to sell or distribute it falls under the umbrella of manufacturing and distribution of a controlled dangerous substance. This is a serious enough charge, but trafficking charges and penalties can be brought depending on the scale of the growth. Prosecutors are allowed to bring a charge of trafficking solely based on the quantity of plants that are found, even in the absence of any other evidence, such as packing materials or money. This allows prosecutors to pursue severe penalties even in ambiguous cases.

It’s important to know that if you have a valid Oklahoma commercial grower’s license for medical marijuana, there are no limits to the number of plants that you may grow. This applies only to those with a commercial grower’s license, and not to those who simply have a medical marijuana license. For those who only have an ordinary medical marijuana license, the limit is a maximum of six plants and up to six seedlings at one time.

For those caught cultivating up to 1,000 plants illegally, the charge is a felony that comes with a fine that can climb to $25,000 and a prison sentence ranging from 20 years to life. The law treats these growers as manufacturers of a controlled substance. Having more than 1,000 plants greatly escalates the situation. The fine is doubled, and while the prison range stays at 20 years to life, it is more likely now that the prison term will be on the higher end.

There are no gradations to this. Even if you’re running a smaller operation with only 100 plants, if you do not have the correct licenses, you can still be hit with felony charges for trafficking intent. Much of this is up to the judge’s discretion, and what the penalty will be precisely will be affected by a number of other issues. One big issue will be any prior convictions that you might have for any drug crimes or for any type of felony. If the cultivation is going on too close to a school or public park, if there are children on the premises where the marijuana is being grown, if actual drug sale paraphernalia or records of transactions are discovered, or if the police find any weapons or experience any difficulty in bringing a person in, this will all weigh against them as the judge makes their decision.

It might seem as if the situation is pretty hopeless, but a drug trafficking lawyer should still be your first call if you’ve been charged with trafficking or with growing marijuana for the purpose of trafficking it. A lawyer with experience in Oklahoma’s laws and the local courts is always your best bet for minimizing penalties. Here’s some of what a lawyer can do:

From the moment the police show up, you should stay quiet, state that you want to talk to your lawyer, and politely refuse to answer questions. As soon as you’ve called the lawyer, and we can get there, we can start protecting you from questioning that could harm your case. The police are very good at asking questions in either in offhand manner that makes it seem perfectly safe to answer, or in a belligerent way that pushes you to want to defend yourself. A lawyer will make sure that you don’t say anything that could make the situation worse.

In any criminal case, it’s the duty of the prosecution to prove what they’re saying beyond a reasonable doubt. This is a pretty high bar to reach, and one of the things your lawyer will do is to cast doubt on the evidence as well as the prosecution’s use of the evidence in putting together a story against you. It’s important to realize that you don’t have to actually prove your innocence. You only have to prove there is reasonable doubt that you are guilty.

If the prosecution cannot use the evidence against you, then they really don’t have much of a case. Your lawyer will dig deep into the circumstances to find out if there’s any way to exclude some or all of the evidence. If, for example, the search of your property was illegal, then none of the evidence found during that search can be used. If the evidence was not stored properly, analyze properly, or if the chain of custody for it was broken or is questionable at any point, some of the evidence – or even all of it – could be excluded.

It’s not just evidence the prosecution needs. The prosecution also has to put together a convincing story to show that those plants are yours. In some cases, it may be possible to show that you had no knowledge of the drugs or believed that they were legal. 

For example, if you are a property owner renting to someone, it’s conceivable that you either had no idea they were growing marijuana on your property or had been told that they had a valid commercial license to do so. If you share a property with a number of other people, while it’s unlikely that hundreds of marijuana plants would go unnoticed by you, it’s not completely inconceivable, and your lawyer will investigate whether it’s possible to prove that you were unaware of the presence of these plants.

Your lawyer may be able to get you a plea deal to reduce the charges against you. There are various ways this can be done. If some of the evidence can be excluded, or if the evidence or the story are weak, your lawyer may be able to convince the prosecution that it’s not worth the risk of bringing a higher charge if you’re willing to plead guilty to a lesser one.

It’s also possible to argue for a reduction in penalties if you can give some substantial assistance to the government in their prosecution of someone else. This investigation could be directly related to you and your plants, but it could also be totally unrelated if you are aware of wrongdoing going on somewhere.

There’s more than a lawyer can do for you, but the faster we get started, the better chance we have of defending you. Reach out to Cannon & Associates in Oklahoma City now so we can get started.