Maryland HB 135: Criminal Law - Controlled Dangerous Substances and Firearms

Bill Text

EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MATTER ADDED TO EXISTING LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
Underlining indicates amendments to bill.
Strike out indicates matter stricken from the bill by amendment or deleted from the law by
amendment.
*hb0135*

HOUSE BILL 135
E1 3lr0475
CF SB 946
By: Delegates Moon and Williams
Introduced and read first time: January 13, 2023
Assigned to: Judiciary
Committee Report: Favorable with amendments
House action: Adopted
Read second time: March 9, 2023

CHAPTER ______

AN ACT concerning 1

Controlled Dangerous Substances – Volume Dealers and Drug Kingpins – 2
Cannabis 3
Criminal Law – Controlled Dangerous Substances and Firearms 4

FOR the purpose of specifying that manufacturing, distributing, dispensing, or possessing 5
certain large quantities of certain controlled dangerous substances is a felony; 6
altering the penalties for being a volume dealer and drug kingpin with regard to 7
cannabis; authorizing a certain person serving a certain term of confinement for an 8
offense relating to volume dealing in cocaine base or cannabis or drug kingpin with 9
regard to cocaine base or cannabis imposed on or before a certain date to file a certain 10
motion to modify or reduce the sentence under certain circumstances; altering the 11
penalties for certain crimes relating to firearms; authorizing a person at least a 12
certain age to manufacture a personal use amount of cannabis products or 13
concentrated cannabis for personal use or adult sharing at a private residence if the 14
manufacturing process does not involve the use of a volatile solvent; and generally 15
relating to volume dealers and drug kingpins controlled dangerous substances and 16
firearms. 17

BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 18
Article – Criminal Law 19
Section 5–101(a) and (u) and 5–602 20
Annotated Code of Maryland 21
(2021 Replacement Volume and 2022 Supplement) 22
(As enacted by Chapter 26 of the Acts of the General Assembly of 2022) 23

2 HOUSE BILL 135

BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 1
Article – Criminal Law 2
Section 5–612 and 5–613 5–603, 5–612, and 5–613 3
Annotated Code of Maryland 4
(2021 Replacement Volume and 2022 Supplement) 5

BY adding to 6
Article – Criminal Law 7
Section 5–612.1 and 5–613.1 8
Annotated Code of Maryland 9
(2021 Replacement Volume and 2022 Supplement) 10

BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 11
Article – Public Safety 12
Section 5–138, 5–406, and 5–703 13
Annotated Code of Maryland 14
(2022 Replacement Volume) 15

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 16
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 17

Article – Criminal Law 18

5–612. 19

(a) A person may not manufacture, distribute, dispense, or possess: 20

(1) 50 pounds or more of cannabis; 21

(2) 448 grams or more of cocaine; 22

(3) 448 grams or more of any mixture containing a detectable amount, as 23
scientifically measured using representative sampling methodology, of cocaine; 24

(4) 448 grams or more of cocaine base, commonly known as “crack”; 25

(5) 28 grams or more of morphine or opium or any derivative, salt, isomer, 26
or salt of an isomer of morphine or opium; 27

(6) 28 grams or more of any mixture containing a detectable amount, as 28
scientifically measured using representative sampling methodology, of morphine or opium 29
or any derivative, salt, isomer, or salt of an isomer of morphine or opium; 30

(7) 5 grams or more of fentanyl or any structural variation of fentanyl that 31
is scheduled by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration; 32

HOUSE BILL 135 3

(8) 28 grams or more of any mixture containing a detectable amount, as 1
scientifically measured using representative sampling methodology, of fentanyl or any 2
structural variation of fentanyl that is scheduled by the United States Drug Enforcement 3
Administration; 4

(9) 1,000 dosage units or more of lysergic acid diethylamide; 5

(10) any mixture containing the equivalent of 1,000 dosage units of lysergic 6
acid diethylamide; 7

(11) 16 ounces or more of phencyclidine in liquid form; 8

(12) 448 grams or more of any mixture containing a detectable amount, as 9
scientifically measured using representative sampling methodology, of phencyclidine; 10

(13) 448 grams or more of methamphetamine; or 11

(14) 448 grams or more of any mixture containing a detectable amount, as 12
scientifically measured using representative sampling methodology, of methamphetamine. 13

(b) For the purpose of determining the quantity of a controlled dangerous 14
substance involved in individual acts of manufacturing, distributing, dispensing, or 15
possessing under subsection (a) of this section, the acts may be aggregated if each of the 16
acts occurred within a 90–day period. 17

(c) (1) (I) [A] EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH (2) OF THIS 18
SUBSECTION, A person who [is convicted of a violation of] VIOLATES subsection (a) of this 19
section IS GUILTY OF A FELONY AND ON CONVICTION shall be s