Common household items could be considered drug paraphernalia

 Posted on July 19, 2018 in Drug Charges

When you think about drug paraphernalia, you think about pipes, bongs and needles. However, virtually anything -- even a piece of fruit or other common household items like tin foil -- could be considered drug paraphernalia if authorities find it in the right context.

Imagine police obtain a warrant to search your vehicle or your residence. Now, imagine they search your entire house and they don't find any drugs. However, they do find a digital scale, a crumpled up ball of tinfoil, an apple and little plastic baggies and a pipe. If they don't find any drugs or drug residue to go along with these items, you're probably in the clear. However, if they find these otherwise innocent items in the following contexts, they could be deemed drug paraphernalia:

A digital scale

Many households have digital scales. However, aside from using a scale to count calories, it could also be used to weigh drugs before selling them. If drugs are found with the scale, then it's probably drug paraphernalia.

A ball of tinfoil

Tinfoil is often used to build makeshift pipes. If the tinfoil has drug residue and burn marks on it, police may suspect that it was used to smoke drugs. Tinfoil may also be used to wrap drugs, in which case, it would be drug paraphernalia.

An apple

It's just a piece of fruit, right? A simple apple could be made into a makeshift drug pipe if someone bores a hole through it and uses it to smoke an illicit substance. Even though it's just an apple, such a piece of fruit could lead to drug paraphernalia conviction.

Little plastic baggies

Little plastic baggies are often used to package drugs before sale.

As you can see, otherwise innocent household items could be construed as drug paraphernalia by police when found in certain circumstances. If you're defending yourself against a drug paraphernalia charge, in some cases, you might be able to show how certain items were in fact innocent and not being used for drug-related activities.