Drug Manufacturing Charges in SC

Drug manufacturing charges in SC may include:

• Growing marijuana,
• Operating a “meth lab,”
• Pressing pills, or
• “Cooking” crack cocaine in your kitchen.

Any time a person produces or creates a controlled substance, it can result in charges for drug manufacturing.

What is drug manufacturing and how do people get charged with it? Below, we will discuss:

• What drug manufacturing means under SC law,
• The potential penalties for drug manufacturing charges in SC,
• Manufacturing marijuana charges, and
• Manufacturing meth charges and related offenses including meth labs, possession of precursors for manufacturing meth, and exposing minors to meth or disposal of meth waste.

What are Drug Manufacturing Charges in SC?

SC’s drug manufacturing laws are found in SC Code § 44-53-375 for methamphetamine or crack cocaine and SC Code § 44-53-370 for marijuana, powder cocaine, heroin, LSD, and other controlled substances.

Sections 44-53-370 and 375 cover more than just manufacturing charges – they include drug possession, distribution, manufacturing, drug trafficking, and possession with intent to distribute or possession with intent to manufacture drugs:

A person who manufactures, distributes, dispenses, delivers, purchases, or otherwise aids, abets, attempts, or conspires to manufacture, distribute, dispense, deliver, or purchase, or possesses with intent to distribute, dispense, or deliver… is guilty of a felony…

What does “drug manufacturing” mean, though?

Simple possession, possession with intent to distribute, and drug trafficking are based on the weight of the drugs, but you can be charged with manufacturing drugs if there is evidence that you have been making, growing, creating, mixing, or cooking the drug, including:

• Cooking crack cocaine or cocaine base,
• Cooking meth,
• Growing marijuana,
• Pressing pills (ecstasy or Molly cut with heroin or meth, for example),
• Growing psilocybin mushrooms, or
• Making LSD/ acid.

Potential Penalties for Drug Manufacturing Charges

The potential penalties for drug manufacturing charges in SC are the same as the penalties for drug distribution charges or possession with intent to distribute (PWID) charges:

Manufacturing Marijuana Charges in SC

Most drug manufacturing charges involve mixing chemicals or other precursors in a lab setting (or your kitchen) to create the drug. Manufacturing marijuana charges (or manufacturing psilocybin mushrooms) are different, however, because all you have to do is plant a seed and grow the plant…

Up to ten pounds of marijuana can be charged as “manufacturing,” but, if you have more than ten pounds, you will most likely be charged with trafficking in marijuana, and the potential penalties (up to 25 years for the most serious offenses) are based on the number of plants that were found.

Grow Rooms, Grow Houses, Outdoor Marijuana Plants

As more and more jurisdictions legalize or decriminalize marijuana throughout the country, weed smokers in SC are growing more impatient, and more grow rooms, grow houses, and outdoor marijuana grows are popping up across the state.

You may be right that the laws prohibiting marijuana are unjust and that it should be legalized, but marijuana possession and marijuana plants are still illegal in our state, and law enforcement will arrest you and charge you with manufacturing marijuana if you are found with marijuana plants.

How do the police find marijuana grow rooms when most growers take great pains to keep them hidden?

• Informants – the most common cause for marijuana grow busts in SC is informants. When someone is charged with a drug crime, narcotics officers will grill them about who they know and where they can buy drugs, promise them leniency, strap a wire on them, and send them out to make cases,
• Accidental discovery – marijuana has an odor. A strong odor and even the most careful growers can end up with a neighbor, mailman, relative, or stranger walking down the street calling law enforcement when they smell plants ready for harvest or buds drying on a rack,
• High electric bills – marijuana requires sunlight to grow and do its thing, which means grow lights and high electric bills. Although utilities usually do not call the police to report unusually high electric bills (if the person is paying their bills), it can happen, and
• Thermal imaging – police need a search warrant to use thermal imaging (see Kyllo v. US), and they usually do not use thermal imaging devices. But, when there is sufficient probable cause to scan a property with a thermal imaging device, it can reveal locations with unusually high temperatures (a possible indication that grow lights are in use), which can contribute to the probable cause for a search warrant to enter the property.

Manufacturing Meth Charges in SC

Manufacturing meth – methamphetamine, crank, ice, crystal, or crystal meth – is another common drug manufacturing charge in SC.

“Meth labs” in homes can be dangerous to the occupants and the neighbors due to the dangers of explosion, fire, or toxic waste, and law enforcement aggressively searches for and shuts down meth production in SC.

Although many of the precursors required to cook meth are common household products that can be found in Walmart or the grocery store, one precursor – pseudoephedrine hydrochloride – is now regulated. You must show identification to purchase pseudo products and you are limited in the amount you can purchase each month.

In addition to charges for manufacturing meth or trafficking in meth, the discovery of a meth lab on your property can result in additional charges including:

• Disposal of waste of meth production – because waste from meth labs can be toxic, SC Code § 44-53-376 makes it an additional crime to dispose of waste from meth production (or to help someone else dispose of waste from meth production), and it carries up to ten years (for a second offense), a fine of up to ten thousand dollars, and restitution for the cost of all agencies that respond to clean up the waste, and
• Exposing a child to meth – SC Code § 44-53-378 makes it a crime carrying up to ten years in prison (for a second offense) to expose a child to methamphetamine or the chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine.

Criminal Defense Lawyers in Columbia, SC, and Myrtle Beach, SC

The Thompson and Hiller Defense Firm only accepts criminal defense cases including any kind of SC drug charges.

If you have been charged with simple possession, possession with intent to distribute, distribution, or trafficking of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, or any drug, call the Thompson & Hiller Defense Firm at (843) 444-6122 or contact us online to find out how we can help.