Pot Charges in SLC
Salt Lake City has a lot of marijuana criminal charges filed each year. In addition to its high population compared to most other cities around the state, it also has three major corridors going through it (I-15, I-80, I-215), and the airport within its jurisdiction. All of these components contribute to the high level of marijuana trade that goes on within Salt Lake’s territory.
The Utah Highway Patrol is primarily responsible for patrolling the corridors, but the sheriff’s office, and the city police department all have authority to make stops and arrests on any of the major corridors. In our experience we have seen most Salt Lake City marijuana charges from the airport come from the police department.
On the corridors the primary marijuana charges are possession of a controlled substance and DUI metabolite. Law enforcement is always searching for large shipments of marijuana, but any unlawful driving pattern will cause them to stop you and possibly search your vehicle depending on whether they have probable cause to do so (and sometimes even if they don’t have probable cause).
Weed at the Airport
At the airport the most common pot charge is possessing less than an ounce of marijuana. It most typically occurs with travelers who have come to Utah to ski or see the national parks. They have a little fun smoking some weed with their friends, keep their pot in a baggie, put it in their pants pocket, and then forget about it. We’ve seen this scenario many times. They go through a search at the airport and get hit with a citation. Fortunately, in those type of situations we can generally take care of the case without even having the client return to Utah.
Regardless of whether you had 10 lbs or one joint, we’re some of the most experienced marijuana lawyers in the State. Call us anytime to find out what we can do for your pot charges.
