Will passing a drug test by my employer help me get out of a possession of marijuana charge? 65 Answers as of August 20, 2012

Unfortunately a possession of drugs charge is not defeated by being clean for use of drugs. It doesn't hurt but will not by itself get the case dismissed.

You may have a better chance looking at the search which may have been justified by a cop saying he smelled dope smoke in the car. If you were by yourself and had no positive test the next day, that claim by the officer may be suspect.

The answer depends on what section of Penal Law 221 you are charged with. Since marijuana possession does not require that you ingest it to be found guilty of possessing it, a clean drug test is not a defense to possession.

In most instances, I doubt that a judge would allow it into evidence as being relevant to whether you possessed marijuana. The one exception may be if you are charged with PL 221.10 (1) under the theory that it was burning and if the offer testifies that he observed you smoking a lit marijuana cigarette. If those are the facts in your case, then you may be able to introduce a negative drug test if it was taken within a short time of the alleged ingestion.

There is a move to decriminalize additional marijuana crimes under this section of the Penal Code and your attorney should be able to take advantage of that to dismiss your charges. If this is your first offense, you are eligible for an ACD (Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal) pursuant to CPL 170.56 which would dismiss and seal the charge after one year if certain conditions are met

A judge may even grant your lawyer's application for this ACD over the DA's objection. Speak to an experienced criminal defense attorney in your county and I expect you will get a positive result.

Dear Sir/Madam - It might help but you will have to be able to get an official copy of the results for it to be admissable in Court. There are some other arguments that might be made regarding the possession charge.

If you case is in the Tampa Bay area and you would like to discuss it further, please give my office a call at the number or email listed with this response. I am sure that I can help you.

It depends. It can't hurt, provided you pass. But, it might not be conclusive that there were drugs in your body at the time of the arrest. I would recommend discussing this with your attorney. If you don't have an attorney, I would consider retaining private counsel.

You do not have to be smoking marihuana or a user to be convicted of possession. It may help but will not carry the entire day for you.

You were charged with POSSESSION not smoking. Whether or not you had marijuana in your system still doesn't explain your POSSESSION of it. So NO.

You can illegally possess a controlled substance, marijuana, etc. without having consumed it. The drug test will not be conclusive.

Possession of cannabis has nothing to do with inhaling or smoking cannabis. The test is not a defense.

Not likely to help with this case. Sorry.

While it will be evidence in your favor, you run into the idea that the pot being in your vehicle it was under your dominion and control. You have a very steep hill to climb to prove you were unaware of the, even if someone comes forward to claim ownership

Dear Possessed, Technically smoking an illegal substance and possessing it are two different things.

Many dealers do not touch the drugs that they sell, which underlies the reasoning for the law in Georgia.

Furthermore, there is no guarantee that a person possession an illegal substance is not planning on smoking at a later time.

In short, the drug test that you took and passed MAY help you persuade the State and/or jury that the drugs were not yours and that you truly were not aware of their presence, but it is no guarantee.

I hope this helps. If you have any follow-up questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

The matters sound unrelated. Your attorney if you have one needs to get a copy of the police report.

Possession of a controlled substance does not mean "use" of a controlled substance. The fact that you did not use marijuana may be some evidence that you did not know the marijuana was in the vehicle however some people possession marijuana for the purpose of sale or providing the substance to someone else.

The past drug test may be helpful in showing that you do not use but would have no bearing on whether you possessed. You will have to demonstrate that you did not own the marijuana and had no knowledge as to how it got into your car. Hopefully the owner will admit to leaving it in your car without your knowledge.

The drug test by the employer will probably not help you. You may be able to get a pre trial diversion program for this charge. Hire an attorney.

It won't prove your innocence but it might help you get a better plea offer. I don't think it will hurt.

The fact that you had no drugs in your system does not prove you did not possess drugs. The test is did you know the drugs were there, if not then that is your defense.

If the charge is simple possession it doesn't matter if you smoke it or not. But there is a diversion program which will make it go away after you complete the program. You want P.C. 1000 if they still do it in your county, not the new program.

It may help, but you can get a more thorough test, like a hair sample test from a private company to rule out use. Possession is different than use. You can possess marijuana and not use it.

The test results are not a "get out of jail free card". It's a possession charge, not a use charge.

My advice is to hire a good lawyer and tell the lawyer about your negative test results. With more information, the test results may prove to be somewhat useful in convincing the DA to go easy on you.

But, to be clear, the test results are in no way a legal defense to the charges you're facing.

It is not a defense but the prosecutor may be swayed by the information. Get representation to assist you.

Being in possession of drugs and using drugs are two distinct things.

The fact that you passed a drug test does not automatically invalidate the fact that you may have been in possession.

If you are presently facing criminal charges for possession, I strongly suggest that you contact an experienced criminal law attorney for a face-to-face consultation and give him/her all of the facts surrounding your arrest.

He/she would then be in a better position to analyze you case and advise you of your options.

Very unlikely. Use your effort in getting an experienced, criminal defense attorney to help you sort this out, and plan your best defense.

You should retain a good criminal lawyer to represent you. The drug test you took is probably not admissible nor is it relevant as possession of drugs does not require that you use the drugs.

If you were the only one in the car and it was your car then the drugs will be presumed to belong to you unless you can prove otherwise. The search of the vehicle might have been illegal in which case the drugs might be suppressed and the case dismissed.

If it was a small amount of pot and your first offense you may be able to get an ACD dismissal or a reduction to a violation.

I doubt that someone else left their pot in your car, so tell your lawyer the truth so that he can help you and not have false information that can lead to him making bad decisions on your behalf.

Give it a shot, but possessing drugs and using them can be independent concepts.

It wouldn't hurt to have passed a drug test. However, you're not charged with smoking pot. You're charged with possession. The police have to provide evidence as to how they obtained the mj and the basis for a search of your car.

If the prosecutor is feeling especially charitable toward mankind, you might convince him/her that you don't use and have no reason to possess. But it doesn't sound like a winning defense if you have to try the case.

You were charged with possession of marijuana, NOT consumption of marijuana, but you should try whatever you think will work. When it does not work, retain an attorney, because the plea to marijuana will suspend your driver's license, even IF your facebook friends don't know it.

Possession and usage are two entirely different issues. The fact that you passed a drug test the next day won't help you in the charge of possession. Your best bet is to show that it either was not in your possession to begin with or to get the person who possessed it, placed it there, used it, whatever, to testify that it was his/hers.

It all depends on the facts of the case.

The determination on the prosecution for the possession charge is solely within the discretion of the prosecutor.

Possession does not mean consumption. You can possess drugs without using them. It may provide a very small bit of influence, but not much.

The charge is possession not usage- so while showing that you didn't have any in your sysem may be of some help- it doesn't resolve the possession charge.

Possession has nothing to do with using it. If the marijuana was in your possession, the state doesn't have to prove you used it.

Passing a drug test by my employer? Why would that have any bearing on the criminal POSSESSION [not use] charges? It possibly helped keep your job, but little else. The DA is simply going to say you had the drugs in your POSSESSION in a car controlled by you, even if not recently used by you. There is your battle. When charged with any crime, the proper questions are, can any evidence obtained in a test, search or confession be used against you, can you be convicted, and what can you do? Raise all appropriate defenses with whatever witnesses, evidence and sympathies are available for legal arguments, for evidence suppression or other motions, or for trial. If you don't know how to represent yourself effectively against an experienced prosecutor intending to convict, then hire an attorney who does, who will try to get a dismissal, charge reduction, diversion, program, or other decent outcome through plea bargain, or take it to trial if appropriate.

Not really. Possession has nothing to do with use. It is illegal to possess marijuana regardless if you use it or not. Unless you are a licensed medical marijuana dispenser or user.

There's still a lot that needs to be known prior to being able to answer this question. But just offhand I would say that passing the drug test would definitely be in your favor. But in and of itself, I don't think that would be enough to completely get the charges dismissed.

Your lawyer could use the results to try to deal with the matter and also as evidence to back up a claim that you were not using the stuff.

It will likely not help because in Illinois the charge is for the possession and not the use of drugs.

It is relevant evidence that you did not know the MJ was present these cases can be won, but you need an attorney - I won a possession case where a bindle was found on top of my clients check book in her underwear drawer.

Your lawyer can take that test to the DA and try to show them that. But depends on the testing at work and how strict it was. Be prepared the DA will want a hair follicle test or another drug test to back it up.

It might help your case, but the prosecutor and police are not bound by a privately administered drug test.

It could definitely help you with your case. You need to hire an attorney to make it more likely to happen.

No. Testing completed for an employer does not have the indicia of reliability or the chain of custody required for samples taken by police for drug testing. Moreover, a "possession" charge does not require that the person charged actually used the drugs.

Smoking and using are two different things. Just because you hadn't smoked marijuana doesn't mean the drugs weren't in your car or that you didn't know they were there. The fact that you passed the test, though, is in your favor and is some evidence in your defense.

Probably not. You are charged with possession, not use. Get an attorney and see if it helps.

Probably not. They were found in your car.

The answer depends a lot on your prosecutoralthough possession does not require usage and being sober does not constitute a legal defense.

Its better than not having the test, but I would have to see the police reports and what "evidence" the prosecutor has. The test may or may not be of help. There are many different types of drug tests. I would also have to see the type of test your employer did. There is also the issue as to whether the test you took was done properly and what safe guards were had to ensure that the sample was not compromised or contaninated.

That is favorable information and may help with the sentence, but it is not a defense to the charge.

While a clean drug test might support that you do not smoke, the state would likely argue in reply that only users and dealers have contraband, meaning that if a person is not a user, then the person is a dealer. Be careful. Possession is a misdemeanor that carries up to a year in jail. Possession with the intent to distribute is a felony and carries up to five years in prison.

It certainly will not hurt; however, I strongly suggest that you get that information in the hands of a qualified attorney who can review the evidence against you, determine if the search was valid, identify possible defenses and negotiate the case on your behalf.

It may help as to your defense if you can show was not a rigged or false test.

Technically you can be in possession of drugs even if you do not take them (ie. to sell them). It may help your attorney negotiate (and perhaps work out a deal for an informal diversion situation or dismissal), but it is not an automatic dismissal just because you tested negative on a drug test.

That evidence might help. I would also recommend that you take one step further and get a hair follicle sample drug test, which will show that you haven't abused any drugs for several months time. That might be used to convince the prosecutor that you are not a pot smoker, and he or she might consider dismissing the charges against you. Of course, I recommend that you retain a good defense attorney to represent you, and help you with the matter. But that is up to you. Good luck!

It makes no difference whether you actually had the drug in your system, it matters that the drugs were found in your vehicle. Possession is established by the fact the drugs were found in your car, and you should consult with counsel to discuss your options, be they plea bargaining, filing of motions, or trial.

Nope. All that matters is that you were in possession of marijuana when you were pulled over. They didn't ticket you for being high, they gave you a ticket because it was in your car. Everyone who gets caught says the marijuana doesn't belong to them, so it's hard to use that as your argument in court. Hire a criminal defense attorney to get the charge reduced to a lesser offense so it won't be on your permanent criminal record.

Nope. The two aren't related. What will get you out of the charge, or you best bet, is to hire a good defense attorney to represnet you in court. These charges are relatively minor, and an experienced attorney knows how to best negotiate with the Judge for a reduction or dismissal.

Passing a drug test will not help you get out of a Possession of Marijuana charge in NH.