Can I be charged with possession of marijuana if I’m a passenger in someone’s car and marijuana is found? What does’possession’ mean under Michigan’s marijuana laws?

UPDATED: Jul 16, 2021

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UPDATED: Jul 16, 2021Fact Checked

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Jeffrey Johnson

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Jeffrey Johnson is a legal writer with a focus on personal injury. He has worked on personal injury and sovereign immunity litigation in addition to experience in family, estate, and criminal law. He earned a J.D. from the University of Baltimore and has worked in legal offices and non-profits in Maryland, Texas, and North Carolina. He has also earned an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman Univer...

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UPDATED: Jul 16, 2021

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It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right legal decisions.

We strive to help you make confident insurance and legal decisions. Finding trusted and reliable insurance quotes and legal advice should be easy. This doesn’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own.

Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about legal topics and insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything legal and insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by experts.

UPDATED: Jul 16, 2021

Advertiser Disclosure

It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right legal decisions.

We strive to help you make confident insurance and legal decisions. Finding trusted and reliable insurance quotes and legal advice should be easy. This doesn’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own.

UPDATED: Jul 16, 2021Fact Checked

You can be charged with possession of marijuana in Michigan if the marijuana is found in a car in which you are a passenger. However, if the marijuana was not on your person and did not belong to you, you will probably have a good defense against conviction. On a related note, Michigan drivers can also be charged with possession of marijuana found in their car, even if it did not belong to them.

In Michigan, “possession” can be categorized as either physical or constructive. Physical possession is simply possessing the marijuana on your person. Constructive possession is a grayer area, and can usually be argued either way. “Constructively” possessing the marijuana means exercising some amount of control over the marijuana, even if it is not on your person. This can mean driving a car with marijuana in the trunk, keeping marijuana stashed in your closet, or even when someone else possesses it on your behalf. An experienced Michigan marijuana lawyer or Michigan criminal lawyer will be able to analyze the circumstances of your case and, if warranted, argue that you never had constructive possession of the marijuana, as well as offer other available defenses.

Follow this link for more information about Michigan Marijuana Laws and Michigan Medical Marijuana Laws

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Jeffrey Johnson

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Jeffrey Johnson is a legal writer with a focus on personal injury. He has worked on personal injury and sovereign immunity litigation in addition to experience in family, estate, and criminal law. He earned a J.D. from the University of Baltimore and has worked in legal offices and non-profits in Maryland, Texas, and North Carolina. He has also earned an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman Univer...

Insurance Lawyer

Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about legal topics and insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything legal and insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by experts.

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