Is a bowl enough to be convicted of marijuana possession?
UPDATE: Virginia decriminalized simple possession of marijuana on July 1, 2020. Click here for details.
One question I often hear from potential clients is whether or not a bowl is sufficient to be found guilty of possession of marijuana in Virginia.
The simple answer is YES.
Virginia law prohibits possessing marijuana. There is no specific amount that has to be in your possession. Just some provable amount of marijuana.
If the bowl that the police find has ever been used, it most likely contains marijuana residue. That will be detectable usually by the officer’s field test.
Thus, finding a bowl often means that the police found marijuana. The Commonwealth still has lots of other pieces of the case to prove, but the existence of marijuana probably won’t be a problem for their case.
Photo by Tha Goodiez