§844. Penalties for simple possession

(a) Unlawful acts; penalties

It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally to possess a controlled substance unless such substance was obtained directly, or pursuant to a valid prescription or order, from a practitioner, while acting in the course of his professional practice, or except as otherwise authorized by this subchapter or subchapter II of this chapter. Any person who violates this subsection may be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not more than 1 year, and shall be fined a minimum of $1,000, or both, except that if he commits such offense after a prior conviction under this subchapter or subchapter II of this chapter, or a prior conviction for any drug or narcotic offense chargeable under the law of any State, has become final, he shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment for not less than 15 days but not more than 2 years, and shall be fined a minimum of $2,500, except, further, that if he commits such offense after two or more prior convictions under this subchapter or subchapter II of this chapter, or two or more prior convictions for any drug or narcotic offense chargeable under the law of any State, or a combination of two or more such offenses have become final, he shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment for not less than 90 days but not more than 3 years, and shall be fined a minimum of $5,000. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, a person convicted under this subsection for the possession of a mixture or substance which contains cocaine base shall be imprisoned not less than 5 years and not more than 20 years, and fined a minimum of $1,000, if the conviction is a first conviction under this subsection and the amount of the mixture or substance exceeds 5 grams, if the conviction is after a prior conviction for the possession of such a mixture or substance under this subsection becomes final and the amount of the mixture or substance exceeds 3 grams, or if the conviction is after 2 or more prior convictions for the possession of such a mixture or substance under this subsection become final and the amount of the mixture or substance exceeds 1 gram. The imposition or execution of a minimum sentence required to be imposed under this subsection shall not be suspended or deferred. Further, upon conviction, a person who violates this subsection shall be fined the reasonable costs of the investigation and prosecution of the offense, including the costs of prosecution of an offense as defined in sections 1918 and 1920 of title 28, except that this sentence shall not apply and a fine under this section need not be imposed if the court determines under the provision of title 18 that the defendant lacks the ability to pay.

(b) Repealed. Pub. L. 98–473, title II, §219(a), Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2027

(c) "Drug or narcotic offense" defined

As used in this section, the term "drug or narcotic offense" means any offense which proscribes the possession, distribution, manufacture, cultivation, sale, transfer, or the attempt or conspiracy to possess, distribute, manufacture, cultivate, sell or transfer any substance the possession of which is prohibited under this subchapter.

( Pub. L. 91–513, title II, §404, Oct. 27, 1970, 84 Stat. 1264 ; Pub. L. 98–473, title II, §219, Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2027 ; Pub. L. 99–570, title I, §1052, Oct. 27, 1986, 100 Stat. 3207–8 ; Pub. L. 100–690, title VI, §§6371, 6480, Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4370 , 4382; Pub. L. 101–647, title XII, §1201, title XIX, §1907, Nov. 29, 1990, 104 Stat. 4829 , 4854.)

Amendments

1990-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 101–647, §1907, inserted subsec. (a) designation.

Pub. L. 101–647, §1201, substituted "shall be imprisoned not less than 5 years and not more than 20 years, and fined a minimum of $1,000" for "shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not less than 5 years and not more than 20 years, or both".

1988-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 100–690, §6480(1)(A)–(C), struck out "but not more than $5,000" after "$1,000", "but not more than $10,000" after "$2,500", and "but not more than $25,000" after "$5,000" in second sentence.

Pub. L. 100–690, §6371, inserted provisions relating to increased penalties in cases of certain serious crack possession offenses, making offenders subject to fines under title 18 or imprisonment to terms not less than 5 years nor more than 20 years, or both.

1986-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99–570 amended subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (a) read as follows: "It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally to possess a controlled substance unless such substance was obtained directly, or pursuant to a valid prescription or order, from a practitioner, while acting in the course of his professional practice, or except as otherwise authorized by this subchapter or subchapter II of this chapter. Any person who violates this subsection shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not more than one year, a fine of not more than $5,000, or both, except that if he commits such offense after a prior conviction or convictions under this subsection have become final, he shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not more than 2 years, a fine of not more than $10,000 or both."

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 99–570, in amending subsec. (b) generally, substituted "Upon the discharge of such person and dismissal of the proceedings" for "Upon the dismissal of such person and discharge of the proceedings" in par. (2).

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 99–570, in amending section generally, added subsec. (c).

1984-Pub. L. 98–473 struck out subsec. (a) designation and struck out subsec. (b) which related to probation before judgment and expunging of records for first offense.

Effective Date of 1984 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 98–473 effective Nov. 1, 1987, and applicable only to offenses committed after the taking effect of such amendment, see section 235(a)(1) of Pub. L. 98–473, set out as an Effective Date note under section 3551 of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in sections 841, 844a, 885 of this title; title 18 sections 3553, 3607; title 42 section 14052.