Drug Crime Defense

California drug offenses are defined almost entirely by the Health & Safety Code, and the charge you face depends on three things: what the substance was, how much of it there was, and what the state says you intended to do with it. The same gram of a controlled substance can support a misdemeanor possession charge or a felony possession-for-sale charge depending on the surrounding evidence — which is why the specific statute in the complaint matters enormously.

The Code groups drugs into schedules and assigns different statutes to different substances. Narcotics such as cocaine, heroin, and unlawfully held prescription opioids fall under Health & Safety Code § 11350 (opens in new window) for possession and § 11351 (opens in new window) for possession for sale, with § 11352 (opens in new window) covering transportation and sale. Methamphetamine and a large group of other controlled substances are handled separately under §§ 11377 (opens in new window), 11378, and 11379 — possession, possession for sale, and transportation or sale respectively. Marijuana, since Proposition 64, sits under its own sections, §§ 11357 (opens in new window) through 11360, and is legal for adults within limits.

Many drug charges are 'wobblers', meaning the prosecution can file them as a felony or a misdemeanor based on your record and the facts. How a case is charged is not fixed — it's a decision, and it's one a defense attorney can influence. Getting involved early, before the filing decision hardens, is often where the most valuable work in a drug case happens.

The consequences of a California drug conviction range from fines and probation to multi-year prison terms, and they depend heavily on the charge. Simple possession, now generally a misdemeanor after Proposition 47, is usually punishable by up to a year in county jail, and many defendants avoid custody entirely through probation or diversion. Sales, transportation, and manufacturing charges are felonies that can carry years in custody — often served in county jail rather than state prison under the realignment rules of Penal Code § 1170(h) (opens in new window), though the term can be substantial.

Felony drug sentences climb with the facts. Weight enhancements under Health & Safety Code § 11370.4 (opens in new window) add years to a sentence when the quantity of certain drugs exceeds statutory thresholds — additional time that stacks on top of the base term. Sales near a school, involving a minor, or as part of a larger operation can each add exposure. And a felony drug conviction can trigger asset forfeiture, allowing the government to seek to keep cash, vehicles, or property it alleges was connected to drug activity — a proceeding we contest separately from the criminal case.

Two propositions reshaped this landscape in the defendant's favor, and a third has since narrowed it. Proposition 47 reclassified most simple-possession offenses as misdemeanors, and it applies retroactively — people carrying old felony drug convictions can often petition to have them reduced to misdemeanors, which can restore rights and opportunities. Proposition 64 did the same for many marijuana offenses. We evaluate every client for these reductions, because a felony that can become a misdemeanor is worth pursuing even years after the fact.

Proposition 36, approved by voters in November 2024, then added the Treatment-Mandated Felony Act at Health and Safety Code section 11395. It reaches a person with two or more prior convictions for listed drug offenses, and for that person a hard-drug possession charge is no longer necessarily a misdemeanor. Treatment is still the default: the statute says a person is not to be sentenced to jail or prison under it unless the court determines the person is not eligible or suitable for treatment, or another listed circumstance applies. Whether it applies to a particular case depends on the actual prior record.

For many drug defendants, the single most important question is not 'will I go to jail' but 'can I avoid a conviction altogether' — and in California the answer is frequently yes. The state has built several off-ramps that route eligible, non-violent drug offenders into treatment instead of the criminal system, and completing one of them generally results in the case being dismissed. These programs are the biggest opportunity in most possession cases, and they're consistently underused because defendants don't know to ask.

Pretrial diversion under Penal Code § 1000 (opens in new window) lets an eligible first-time defendant charged with simple possession complete a drug-education or treatment program without entering a plea that results in a conviction; when the program is finished, the charge is dismissed. Proposition 36 — the drug-treatment diversion program enacted by the 2000 Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act (SACPA), not the separate 2024 measure of the same number — provides court-supervised treatment in lieu of incarceration for many non-violent possession offenses, where it remains available, again with dismissal on successful completion. Los Angeles County also operates a dedicated drug court — an intensive, judicially supervised treatment track for defendants whose cases are driven by addiction, offering close support in exchange for accountability.

Each program has its own eligibility rules, and which one is even on the table depends on the code section in the complaint. Possession-for-sale and trafficking charges are generally excluded, which is one more reason defeating an intent-to-sell allegation matters so much.

Even where diversion isn't available, a completed sentence is not the end of the story. Under Penal Code § 1203.4, many people who finish probation can petition to withdraw their plea and have the case dismissed, easing the burden a conviction places on employment and licensing. We map the full path at the outset — diversion first, reduction where it applies, and expungement afterward — so that a drug case doesn't follow you for the rest of your life.

Boyadzhyan Legal Shield is based in Encino on Ventura Boulevard and defends drug cases throughout the San Fernando Valley and greater Los Angeles — Sherman Oaks, Tarzana, Van Nuys, Woodland Hills, Studio City, Northridge, and beyond. Drug arrests in these communities happen everywhere from traffic stops on the 101 and Ventura Boulevard to search warrants served at homes and apartments across the Valley, and each one raises its own search-and-seizure questions.

If you were arrested in the Valley, your drug case is very likely to be prosecuted at the Van Nuys Courthouse, which handles criminal matters for the San Fernando Valley. We appear in Van Nuys and the surrounding Los Angeles County courts regularly, which means knowing its prosecutors and its diversion practices. Diversion and drug-court decisions are made courthouse by courthouse, and how the Valley handles them can be the difference between a treatment program and a conviction.