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What are drug manufacturing and cultivation charges?

On Behalf of | Mar 16, 2018 | Drug Crimes

Many may believe that possession and sale of drugs are illegal in Ohio, but manufacturing and cultivation of drugs, such as marijuana and methamphetamine is also considered a punishable offense, with the production of marijuana being a Schedule I offense.

Drug manufacturing takes place when anyone is knowingly involved in any step, from cultivating or producing, of the illicit drug process. If the drug is question is marijuana, then they become guilty of the illegal cultivation of marijuana. Since it is considered a crime under both federal and state law, the penalties are quite severe.

Penalties differ, depending on the amount of plants being cultivated and the location at which it was presumably taking place. For example, cultivation of marijuana of less than 50 plants, under federal law results in five years in prison and where the plants are more than 1,000, then the resulting penalty can be life imprisonment. State law deals with it in terms of grams-if the amount of marijuana involved is less than 100 grams then the minor misdemeanor charges carry a $150 penalty but if the same offense was near a minor or a school, then it turns into a fourth degree misdemeanor with a 30 day jail sentence and $450 fine. On other end of the spectrum, if the amount of marijuana involved is more than 20 kilograms and offense took place near a school or minor, then the first degree felony charges carry at least three years and at most 10 years in prison, accompanied with a $20,000 fine.

To prove the drug crime though, it must be shown that the accused knowingly manufactured and cultivated marijuana. This can be difficult to demonstrate and can often be refuted with the help of experienced attorneys poking holes in the case.

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