You will find it difficult to get accepted to a college or university with a drug conviction on your file. This does not apply to people convicted of possession of 30 grams of marijuana, approximately one ounce or less; in that case, punishment for possession would be the only penalty. While it's possible to take on a drug paraphernalia charge without a mark on your permanent record, you could still be sentenced to probation and have to pay fines. If you are arrested for possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana in Mississippi, this is considered a misdemeanor.
Mississippi Annotated Code § 41-29-139 (c) defines simple drug possession as the illegal possession of any controlled substance that is not validly prescribed. In addition to the jail time you could serve and the fines you could pay, a conviction for a drug offense will have far-reaching consequences for your future. Mississippi not only classifies drugs known as cocaine, heroin and marijuana as CDS, but also compounds used to make certain drugs. These classes are also used to determine the applicable penalties for illegally possessing a specific CDS (described in the next section).
Young people and college students have some of these relaxed attitudes about drugs, but laws apply uniformly regardless of the age or other condition of the accused person. Creating, selling, exchanging, transferring, distributing, dispensing, or possessing with the intention of creating, selling, exchanging, transferring, distributing, or dispensing a counterfeit substance. Under Mississippi law, it is illegal for anyone, knowingly or intentionally, to possess or attempt to gain possession of a controlled substance. A car will not be subject to a confiscation for possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana, for possession of between 1 and 30 grams in a vehicle, or possession of more than 30 but less than 250 grams.
Taylor's criminal defense attorneys Jones & Taylor are here to protect your rights and provide an aggressive defense so that your future is not ruined by a possession or conviction charge. But the state of Mississippi does not share those views, and an arrest for possession of drugs or drug paraphernalia in this state can have serious consequences.
