Possession By Amount
ORC 2925.11 — what each quantity actually carries
Possession is charged by degree, and the degree comes off a table. These are the tiers as published by the Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission, cited back to the section they summarise. Sentencing guidance for each tier is a separate question, covered in How A Judge Decides.
| Schedule I or II | Amount | Degree |
|---|---|---|
| Most pills, meth, and the rest | Under bulk | F-5 |
| Bulk to under 5x bulk | F-3 | |
| 5x to under 50x bulk | F-2 | |
| 50x to under 100x bulk | F-1 | |
| 100x bulk or more | F-1, major drug offender |
| Schedule III, IV or V | Amount | Degree |
|---|---|---|
| Lower schedule compounds | Under bulk | M-1, or F-5 with a prior drug abuse offence |
| Bulk to under 5x bulk | F-4 | |
| 5x to under 50x bulk | F-3 | |
| 50x bulk or more | F-2 |
| Cocaine | Amount | Degree |
|---|---|---|
| Powder or crack, same table | Under 5 g | F-5 |
| 5 to under 10 g | F-4 | |
| 10 to under 20 g | F-3 | |
| 20 to under 27 g | F-2 | |
| 27 to under 100 g | F-1 | |
| 100 g or more | F-1, major drug offender |
| Heroin | Amount | Degree |
|---|---|---|
| By weight or by unit dose | Under 1 g, or under 10 unit doses | F-5 |
| 1 to under 5 g, or 10 to under 50 doses | F-4 | |
| 5 to under 10 g, or 50 to under 100 doses | F-3 | |
| 10 to under 50 g, or 100 to under 500 doses | F-2 | |
| 50 to under 100 g, or 500 to under 1,000 doses | F-1 | |
| 100 g or more, or 1,000 doses or more | F-1, major drug offender |
| Fentanyl related compound | Amount | Degree |
|---|---|---|
| Same shape as heroin, far smaller weights matter | Under 1 g, or under 10 unit doses | F-5 |
| 1 to under 5 g, or 10 to under 50 doses | F-4 | |
| 5 to under 10 g, or 50 to under 100 doses | F-3 | |
| 10 to under 20 g, or 100 to under 200 doses | F-2 | |
| 20 to under 50 g, or 200 to under 500 doses | F-1 | |
| 100 g or more, or 1,000 doses or more | F-1, major drug offender |
| Marijuana | Amount | Degree |
|---|---|---|
| Criminal tiers, outside the adult use allowance | Under 100 g | Minor misdemeanor |
| 100 to under 200 g | M-4 | |
| 200 g to under 1 kg | F-5 | |
| 1 to under 5 kg | F-3 | |
| 5 to under 20 kg | F-3 | |
| 20 to under 40 kg | F-2, mandatory prison | |
| 40 kg or more | F-2, mandatory maximum |
The marijuana row is the one that needs a date on it. Those tiers are the criminal statute, and the guide they come from is a February 2023 edition, which is before Ohio's adult use law. An adult over twenty one possessing within the amount that law allows is not in this table at all. Over that line, or under twenty one, and the tiers are what applies.
Major drug offender is not a longer sentence, it is a different one. At the top tier the court is required to impose the maximum term for that degree. There is no room left to argue about where in the range you land, which is why the top tier is the one worth understanding before anything else.
Drawn from the Drug Offense Quick Reference Guide, February 2023 edition, published by the Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission with the Supreme Court Law Library. Verify against current 2925.11, because the schedules and the tiers both get amended.
Sources for this section (7)
- ORC 2925.11 — Possession of controlled substances
- Drug Offense Quick Reference Guide — Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission, February 2023 edition
- ORC 2925.01 — Drug offence definitions, including bulk amount and unit dose
- ORC 2941.1410 — Major drug offender specification for fentanyl-related compounds
- ORC 3796.20 — Adult use marijuana, personal possession and home grow
- Ohio Sub. S.B. 56 — Replaced Chapter 3780 with the Marijuana Control Law in Chapter 3796, effective March 20, 2026
- ORC 2929.14 — Definite prison terms for felonies
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Talk to a licensed Ohio attorney about your situation.