Costco Defense

Most of the controlled substance crimes are divided between being crimes for possession or sales. If you possess a large quantity of controlled substances, the State may use the weight to try and charge you with sales even though they do not have a witness to the sale of controlled substance. The theory being that nobody would possess that much controlled substances for personal use. 

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However, possessing large quantities of items does not necessarily mean someone is selling the items. If you observe your middle age neighbor unloading multiple giant bags of toilet paper from her minivan, it's much more likely that she just stocked up on toilet paper for personal use from Costco than that she is selling toilet paper. It's well known that buying items in bulk is usually cheaper than buying items in smaller quantities. This is true of everyday items and it is true of controlled substances. But the large quantities people possess are still used as a factor to determine whether someone is possessing for personal use or selling. Arguing that the amount possessed was an admittedly large amount but was for personal use is known colloquially as "the Costco defense". The strength of a Costco defense will depend on all of the evidence in the case beyond the weight of the controlled substances. 

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Each case is different and requires a close analysis of the facts. If you are being charged with a drug crime, you likely do not want a DWI lawyer. You want somebody who focuses on defending drug crimes to craft the best defense for your drug case. Call Subzero Criminal Defense today. 651-248-5142.