Paraphernalia
Md. Code, Crim. Law § 5-619 — a fine not exceeding $500 for a first use or possession, and more after
Use or possession. Unless authorized under the title, a person may not use or possess with intent to use drug paraphernalia to grow, manufacture, prepare, pack, store or conceal a controlled dangerous substance, or to inject, ingest, inhale or otherwise introduce one into the body. A first violation is a misdemeanor with a fine not exceeding $500; each later one, imprisonment not exceeding 1 year or a fine not exceeding $1,000, or both.
Delivery. Delivering or selling paraphernalia, or making or possessing it with intent to, knowing or where one reasonably should know how it will be used, carries the same penalties. Delivering it, at 18 or older, to a minor at least 3 years younger is a separate misdemeanor with imprisonment not exceeding 8 years or a fine not exceeding $15,000, or both.
- Statements by an owner or person in control of the object about its use.
- A prior conviction of that person under a controlled substance law.
- The object's proximity, in time and space, to a direct violation or to a controlled dangerous substance.
- Residue on the object.
- The existence and scope of legitimate uses for the object in the community.
Those are among the factors a court considers in deciding whether an object is drug paraphernalia.
What counts as drug paraphernalia is defined elsewhere in the law, and the cannabis rules have their own page. Whether an object found in a particular search is paraphernalia is a question of fact and law for a licensed Maryland attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- Md. Code, Crim. Law § 5-619 — Drug paraphernalia
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Maryland attorney.