The Louisiana Legislature met in a special session at the request of Governor Landry in February and passed several new laws impacting the criminal justice system.

Taking effect on July 1, 2024, the legislature modified Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 320 requiring pretrial drug testing as a condition of bail. The statute now requires that every person arrested for a drug offense or crime of violence must be drug tested within 24 hours of booking and at random testing thereafter, if the initial test is positive. Also, if positive, the individual shall then be screened for eligibility for speciality courts (i.e.: drug court, veteran’s court, etc…). The statute limits disclosure of these records to anyone except the District Attorney, defense counsel, treatment professionals affiliated with the drug court program, and the court, but shall be inadmissible in court except for the purposes of determining eligibility for specialty court admission.

The legislature also amended and enacted Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Articles 893 and 904 regarding the procedures for admission to specialty courts in Louisiana.

If you or someone you know is facing criminal prosecution and you would like to schedule a consult, give us a call at (318) 459-9111 to schedule a consultation.

The Louisiana Legislature this year amended the Schedule II penalties with regard to Fentanyl and established a new offense for the production, manufacturing, distribution, or possession of Xylazine.

Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:967 has been amended, with regard to Fentanyl, to increase the penalties as follows:

• For a conviction involving less than 28 grams, the penalty shall be imprisonment at hard labor for not less than 5 years nor more than 40 years, and a fine of up to $50,000. The legislature established a mandatory minimum penalty of 5 years without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence.

• For a first conviction of 28 grams or more but less than 250 grams, the penalty shall be imprisonment at hard labor for not less than 7 years nor more than 40 years, at least 7 years of which shall be without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence (and a fine).

• For a second conviction of 28 grams or more but less than 250 grams, the penalty shall be imprisonment at hard labor for not less than 30 years nor more than 40 years, at least 10 years of which shall be without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence (and a fine).

• For a third conviction of 28 grams or more but less than 250 grams, the penalty shall be imprisonment or hard labor for not less than 99 years without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence (and a fine).

• Distribution which “is the direct cause of serious bodily injury to the person who ingested or consumed the substance”:

  • Shall be classified as a crime of violence

  • Penalty shall be imprisonment at hard labor for an additional period of five years without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence to be served consecutively.

La. R.S. 40:967.

The Louisiana legislature also enacted Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:989.4 - Unlawful production, manufacturing, distribution, or possession of Xylazine

A.(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly or intentionally produce, manufacture, distribute, or possess with intent to produce, manufacture, or distribute Xylazine.

(2) Whoever violates the provisions of this Subsection shall be imprisoned, with or without hard labor, for not less than one year nor more than ten years, and, in addition, may be required to pay a fine of not more than fifteen thousand dollars.

B.(1) it shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly or intentionally possess Xylazine.

(2) Whoever violates the provisions of this Subsection shall be imprisoned for not more than six months and, in addition, may be required to pay a fine of not more than five hundred dollars.

C. The provisions of this Section shall not apply to the following:

(a) The production, manufacturing, distribution, or possession of Xylazine in the course of a legitimate veterinary practice.

(b) The production, manufacturing, distribution, or possession of Xylazine bulk chemical for pharmaceutical compounding by a licensed pharmacist or veterinarian.

(c) The possession of Xylazine pursuant to a valid prescription from a licensed veterinarian.

D. As used in this Section, “Xylazine” means Xylazine and any salt, sulfate, isomer, homologue, analogue, or other preparation of Xylazine, and any salt, isomer, compound, derivative, precursor, homologue, analogue, or other preparation thereof that is substantially chemically equivalent or identical to Xylazine.

La. R.S. 40:989.4.

If you or someone you know is facing prosecution for a drug offense, give us a call at (318) 459-9111 to set up a consult.

Effective August 1, 2022, the Louisiana Legislature amended Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 40, §1021 to exclude from the definition of “drug paraphernalia” the following:

• “rapid fentanyl test strips (FTS) or any testing equipment or devices solely used, intended for use, or designed to determine whether a substance contains fentanyl or its analogues.” (to be cited as “Gabby’s Law”) La. R.S. 40:1021(B)

• “any equipment or devices solely used or intended for use for the inhalation of raw or crude marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinols (sic), or a chemical derivative of tetrahydrocannabinols (sic) when the person is a patient of a state-sponsored medical marijuana program and possesses medical marijuana in a form permissible under R.S. 40:1046 for therapeutic use.” La. R.S. 40:1021(B).

If you or someone you know is facing prosecution for drug paraphernalia charges, give us a call at (318) 459-9111 to schedule a consultation.

Effective August 1, 2022, the Louisiana Legislature made some changes to the drug laws.

With regard to marijuana, the legislature enacted Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 162.4 to state explicitly that the mere odor of marijuana is insufficient to provide probable cause for the search of a person’s home without a warrant. La. C.Cr.P. Art. 162.4

The legislature further enacted La. R.S. 32:300.4.1 which prohibits the smoking or vaping of marijuana in a motor vehicle. The fine for violating this statute is $100. The statute further prohibits officers from using this offense as the primary basis for a traffic stop, and establishes it as a non-moving violation which shall not be reported on a person’s driving record. La. R.S. 32:300.4.1.

The Legislature also re-categorized several controlled substances on the drug schedules, notably moving fentanyl to Schedule I. La. R.S. 40:964.

Finally, the Legislature amended Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 14, §403.10 to provide immunity for prosecution for those seeking medical treatment for an individual believed to be suffering from an overdose for the offense of possession of drug paraphernalia. The change also prohibits individuals from seeking medical treatment for an individual suffering an overdose from violations of probation or parole or civil forfeiture of property.

If you or someone you know is facing prosecution for violations of the controlled dangerous substances laws, give us a call at (318) 459-9111 to schedule a consultation.

We have gotten questions from several people regarding the bill Governor John Bel Edwards just signed into law “decriminalizing” marijuana possession in Louisiana, so we thought we’d let y’all know what this law actually does.

Governor Edwards signed House Bill 652 (by Shreveport’s own Representative Cedric Glover) into law on Tuesday, June 15. The first thing we want our readers to know is that this law does not legalize marijuana possession, distribution, production, etc..in Louisiana. It is still a crime to do all of those things with regard to marijuana. (See Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:966.)

What this bill does do is change the penalty for possession of 14 grams (half an ounce) or less of marijuana from a fine and/or jail time to simply a fine of not more than $100. It does not matter whether this is a first offense or a 40th offense as long as the amount possessed is 14 grams or less. Possession of more than 14 grams of marijuana still carries the potential for jail time and is also still an enhanceable offense, meaning that for a third or higher offense, you could be charged with a felony.

Although many in the media and legislature are referring to this statute as “decriminalization,” we want our readers to be very aware that an arrest and conviction for possession of less than 14 grams of marijuana will still be considered a criminal conviction. This means that the arrest and conviction will still show up on your rap sheet unless you pay to have it expunged (assuming you are otherwise eligible to expunge it). It also means that you will have to disclose it on job applications, lease applications, etc.

Our readers also need to be aware that this legislation is only applicable to state law. Marijuana is still illegal in any quantity under federal law.

Finally, our readers should also know that this law will not go into effect until August 1, 2021, the standard effectiveness date of all legislation in Louisiana (unless another one is specifically enumerated). That means that, until August 1, if you are caught with less than 14 grams of marijuana, you still face jail time if convicted.

If you or someone you know is facing marijuana possession charges and has questions about how the new law will impact them, call us to set up a consult at (318) 459-9111.

Swallowing your drugs to keep the police from seizing them as evidence is a bad idea for a LOT of reasons. From a legal standpoint:

First, the officer may charge you with obstruction of justice.  The Louisiana Obstruction of Justice Statute is pretty long, but the relevant part says:

“A. The crime of obstruction of justice is any of the following when committed with the knowledge that such act has, reasonably may, or will affect an actual or potential present, past, or future criminal proceeding as described in this Section:

(1) Tampering with evidence with the specific intent of distorting the results of any criminal investigation or proceeding which may reasonably prove relevant to a criminal investigation or proceeding. Tampering with evidence shall include the intentional alteration, movement, removal, or addition of any object or substance either:

(a) At the location of any incident which the perpetrator knows or has good reason to believe will be the subject of any investigation by state, local, or United States law enforcement officers; or

(b) At the location of storage, transfer, or place of review of any such evidence…” 

The punishment for committing obstruction of justice? If the crime you’re trying to cover up is a misdemeanor or non-hard labor felony: a fine of up to $10,000 and imprisonment for up to FIVE YEARS. For hard labor felonies, the punishment is a fine of up to $50,000 and imprisonment up to 20 years. The punishment for first offense simple possession of less than 14 grams of marijuana? A fine of up to $300 and 15 days in jail.

Secondly, just because you swallow the drugs doesn’t mean you can’t be prosecuted for possession of the drug if the officer saw it in your possession before you swallowed it. The officer will be able to testify about what he observed and a jury may still find beyond a reasonable doubt that you possessed a controlled dangerous substance.

If you or someone you know has been arrested for possession of a controlled dangerous substance, call us for a consult at (318) 459-9111.