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Washington Drug Possession Law

Washington Drug Possession Penalties, RCW § 69.50.4013

What you are facing under RCW § 69.50.4013, how the penalties scale, and the questions an attorney needs to answer — under Washington (WA) drug possession law.

Washington (WA) — Possession of a Controlled Substance

Offense class: Gross Misdemeanor (first/second); Misdemeanor (with diversion)

Incarceration

– 180 days (first/second); 364 days (third+ after July 1, 2023)

Maximum Fine

$1,000

Offense Class

Gross Misdemeanor (first/second); Misdemeanor (with diversion)

What this costs

Visible before you click.

$127Drug Possession Defense Playbook, delivered in Instant download.

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Every price on this site is the price. No “starting at.” No per-minute meter. No bait.

Washington Drug Possession Penalty Range

FactorDetail
StatuteRCW § 69.50.4013
OffensePossession of a Controlled Substance
ClassGross Misdemeanor (first/second); Misdemeanor (with diversion)
Incarceration – 180 days (first/second); 364 days (third+ after July 1, 2023)
Maximum fine$1,000

Penalty Enhancements

Additional factors that can increase the sentence under Washington law.

  • Third or subsequent offense after July 1, 2023 (up to 364 days)
  • Possession near schools or parks

Washington note: Washington passed the Blake fix in 2023 (SB 5536) making simple possession a gross misdemeanor. Prosecutors encouraged to divert first/second offenses to assessment and treatment. Cannabis legal for 21+ under RCW § 69.50.360.

Federal judges with most drug-possession sentencing data in Washington

These are aggregate frequencies — never a prediction about any specific case.

What you're afraid of

Washington drug possession defendants tell us they're afraid of four things. Here's how we address each.

Every citation in your report links back to a real CourtListener URL or a real state statute page. Your attorney can verify everything in under five minutes. We sit alongside your attorney — we don't replace them.

  • What if I take the wrong plea — or the wrong sentence?

    Most defendants take the first plea offered. We pull the comparable cases in your district and your judge's prior rulings, so you can see what the floor actually is before deciding.

    See the Playbook

  • What if my attorney isn't actually listening — or preparing?

    Most defendants leave their attorney's office with more questions than they came in with. Not because attorneys are bad — the meeting is short and you didn't know what to ask. We hand you the questions, scored against your charge.

    Take the free Defense Score

  • I don't even know what I don't know.

    The hardest part of a criminal case is not knowing which questions matter. The Intelligence Brief pulls the most-cited opinions in your district + your charge, mapped to your judge's prior rulings, and surfaces the five questions that move the needle in front of this prosecutor.

    See what an Intelligence Brief covers

  • What if I bring my attorney a number they dismiss?

    If you bring your attorney a number they can't trace to a source, the conversation is over. Every number in our report is a hyperlink. Your attorney clicks, verifies, and the conversation continues.

    View a sample report

We're not here to replace your attorney. We're here to make sure you walk into their office knowing the right questions to ask.

What you're paying for is the time

Skip the 6-10 hours of reading. We already did it.

Defendants are already doing this work themselves — on r/legaladvice / r/Ask_Lawyers / Avvo Q&A, in Google searches, in the long thread of “what happens if I plead X” questions every public legal-help surface carries. The data is public. The reading is the work.

  • r/legaladvice + r/Ask_Lawyers (source): thousands of 'what happens if I plead X' threads, none of them indexed to your specific charge or your state's statute.

  • Avvo Q&A (source): per-charge plain-language threads, attorney answers gated behind per-minute meters.

  • Your state's official statute site: the actual statute text, the actual sentencing range, the actual enhancement triggers.

We hand you the synthesis — cited, hyperlinked, organized for your charge — for $127.

Get the Drug Possession Defense Playbook — $127

Free — takes 2 minutes

Is your Washington drug case defense on track?

The free Defense Score checks 10 critical defense behaviors specific to drug-possession cases. Takes 2 minutes. Instant results.

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Drug Possession Defense Playbook

$127

26 questions that change how the next attorney meeting goes, a case stage roadmap, red flag checklist, and a case progress scorecard. Instant PDF download, relevant to Washington defendants.

Delivery: Instant download

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Other Washington defense topics

Facing a different charge in Washington? Penalty ranges, enhancements, and defense questions for related crimes:

DUI in WashingtonAssault in WashingtonDomestic Violence in Washington

This page provides legal information — not legal advice — about Washington drug possession law as of the date of publication. Laws change. Verify current statutes with a licensed attorney in Washington.