§ 138.27. Dispensing of illegal drug paraphernalia.

A.

No person shall knowingly dispense, furnish, sell, or distribute or offer to furnish, dispense, sell, or distribute illegal drug paraphernalia to another.

B.

As used in this section, a cocaine pipe or crack pipe is illegal drug paraphernalia. A cocaine pipe or crack pipe is any hollow glass cylinder which is more than two inches and less than six inches in length and less than one-half inch in its inner diameter.

C.

As used in this section, a cigarette paper is illegal drug paraphernalia. A cigarette paper is any paper designed, manufactured, or marketed for the purpose of smoking tobacco, marijuana, cocaine, or other organic or mineral matter excluding cigarette paper used in the industrial manufacture of cigarettes or sold inside a container or package with loose tobacco where the number of papers in the container or package is reasonably necessary to roll the loose tobacco in the container or package into cigarettes.

D.

It is an affirmative defense to a charge under this section of dispensing illegal drug paraphernalia that the supplier was not otherwise prohibited by law and the supplier was an organization or an agent thereof furnishing glass tubing to another who was a student or employee of the same organization and such glass tubing was furnished for use in laboratory work lawfully carried on by the organization or the furnished glass tubing is an integral and necessary part of a laboratory apparatus and is furnished as a part of that apparatus.

E.

If any provision of this section is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect any other provisions, or the application thereof, which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this section are declared to be severable.

F.

Whoever violates this section is guilty of dispensing illegal drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.

G.

1.

Notwithstanding § 130.99 of this code, the court shall impose a mandatory fine of two hundred fifty dollars for a violation of this section.

2.

Notwithstanding any contrary provision of R.C. § 3719.21, fifty percent of any mandatory fine imposed pursuant to subsection (D)(1) of this section shall be paid to the Clerk of Court in accordance with and subject to the requirements of, and shall be used as specified in, R.C. § 2925.03(H), and fifty percent shall be dispersed as provided in R.C. § 3719.21.

3.

If a person is charged with any violation of this section and posts bail pursuant to R.C. §§ 2937.22 to 2937.46 or Criminal Rule 46, and the person forfeits bail, the forfeited bail shall be paid by the Clerk of the Court in accordance with and subject to the requirements of, and shall be used as specified in subsection (D)(2) of this section.

4.

No court shall impose a mandatory fine pursuant to subsection (G)(1) of this section upon an offender who alleges, in an affidavit filed with the court prior to his sentencing, that he is indigent and is unable to pay any mandatory fine imposed pursuant to that subsection, if the court determines the offender is an indigent person and is unable to pay the fine.

H.

In addition to any other sanction imposed for a violation of this section, the court may suspend for not more than five years the driver's or commercial driver's license of any person who is convicted of or has pleaded guilty to a violation of this section.

I.

Any offender who received a mandatory suspension of the offender's driver's license or permit under this section, prior to September 13, 2016, may file a motion with the sentencing court requesting termination of the suspension. Upon the filing of such motion, the sentencing court, in its discretion, may terminate the suspension.

(Ord. 514-1997; Ord. 21-1990; Ord. 697-1989)

(Ord. 255-2016)