Knowingly possessing drugs…

Let’s say you’re very intoxicated. Before you got intoxicated, you put some marijuana in your pocket. Later in the evening you’re picked up for drunk and disorderly conduct, and taken to the jail for booking.

At the jail, you empty your pockets, and out tumbles the pot.

Can you be charged with Knowingly Possessing a controlled substance in a penal facility or local confinement facility? That’s a class H felony, with a sentence of up to 30 months in prison.

The answer is: probably not. If you were so intoxicated that you lacked the specific intent required to violate the law – knowingly possession the drug in jail – you may not be convicted of the crime.

In all likelihood, you could be convicted of the simple possession charge, which for marijuana, depending on the amounts, would be a Class 1 or Class 3 misdemeanor.