Key Takeaways
Getting caught with drugs in Colorado Springs usually leads to a misdemeanor charge, not the felony most people expect. Colorado reclassified most personal possession in 2019, and that change reshaped how these cases move through the courts. The distinction matters, but it does not make the case harmless.
At Liberty Law Center, we defend individuals facing drug charges throughout Colorado Springs and the surrounding communities. Our experienced criminal defense attorneys carefully examine every aspect of the case, challenge unlawful police conduct, and fight to protect our clients' rights.
If you have been arrested on a drug charge, call (719) 285-4889 to schedule a confidential consultation.
The hours after an arrest shape everything that follows. Officers decide whether to release you with a summons or take you into custody, and that decision controls your first week.
Our attorneys start working from the moment of the stop. The legality of the search often determines whether the evidence survives at all.
Not every drug charge begins with handcuffs. For a low-level possession allegation, an officer may issue a summons, which is a written order requiring you to appear in court on a set date.
Custodial arrest becomes more likely when the allegation involves a felony quantity, an outstanding warrant, or additional charges. Booking then takes place at the county jail.
State law bars officers from arresting anyone for the petty offense of possessing two ounces or less of marijuana. A court can still issue a warrant if you skip your court date, as the General Assembly explained when it passed House Bill 19-1263.
After booking, the court sets bond and schedules an advisement. Advisement is the short hearing where a judge states the charges against you and explains your rights.
The 4th Judicial District, covering El Paso and Teller counties, holds in-custody advisements on weekday afternoons and out-of-custody advisements on Thursday mornings. Nobody expects you to argue the facts that day.
We use the window before the next setting to request discovery, including body camera footage and the arresting officer's report.
The path from a drug arrest to a first court date follows a predictable sequence:
That final stage is where the strength of a drug case gets tested.
Colorado places drug offenses in their own tier system rather than folding them into the general felony and misdemeanor classes. Possession falls under Colorado Revised Statutes section 18-18-403.5, which makes it unlawful to possess a controlled substance knowingly.
The charge level turns on three variables: The substance, its schedule under state law, and its weight.
House Bill 19-1263 took effect on March 1, 2020. It reclassified possession of four grams or less of a Schedule I or II controlled substance as a level 1 drug misdemeanor, and identical conduct was a level 4 drug felony before that date.
Substances in schedules III, IV, and V also sit in misdemeanor territory at personal-use quantities. Most possession cases we handle in Colorado Springs land here.
Weight is the usual trigger. More than four grams of a Schedule I or II controlled substance moves the charge up to a level 4 drug felony.
Your record matters just as much as the amount. A fourth or subsequent possession offense is charged as a level 4 drug felony no matter how little was recovered.
Not every substance follows the four-gram rule. Since July 1, 2022, possessing more than one gram of fentanyl or carfentanil has been a level 4 drug felony. One gram or less is a level 1 drug misdemeanor.
The statute also lets a defendant show a reasonable mistake of fact about whether a substance contained fentanyl. When the finder of fact accepts that showing, the offense drops back to a level 1 drug misdemeanor.
Any amount of gamma hydroxybutyrate, flunitrazepam, ketamine, or cathinones remains a level 4 drug felony regardless of weight.
Several circumstances push a simple possession allegation above the misdemeanor line:
Each of these changes your sentencing exposure substantially, which is why the charging level warrants scrutiny before anyone discusses a plea.
Published penalty ranges for drug misdemeanors are frequently misread. Colorado built a separate sentencing track for simple possession, and it is considerably lighter than the general drug misdemeanor range.
For possession committed on or after March 1, 2020, a court may impose probation for up to two years. That probation can carry a total of up to 180 days in county jail as a condition. The court may instead impose up to 180 days in county jail directly, under the drug misdemeanor sentencing statute. A third or subsequent offense raises the jail ceiling to 364 days.
Legislators wrote their intent into the statute itself: Possession is treated primarily as a health concern, and sentencing is designed to route people toward treatment.
A level 4 drug felony carries a presumptive range of six months to one year in state prison, plus one year of mandatory parole and a fine between $1,000 and $100,000. The presumptive range is the sentence a judge should impose in a typical case, as set out in the drug felony sentencing statute.
Aggravating circumstances, such as committing the offense while on probation for another felony, can extend that range to two years.
Facing a possession charge in El Paso County right now? Call Liberty Law Center at 719-285-4889 for a free case evaluation before your next court date.
Possession is rarely the only statute in play. Prosecutors routinely file additional counts based on what officers recovered alongside the suspected controlled substance.
C.R.S. § 18-18-405 covers distribution, manufacturing, dispensing, sale, and possession with intent. Charge levels run from a level 1 drug misdemeanor up to a level 1 drug felony.
Intent is usually inferred from circumstances rather than proven directly. Scales, small baggies, cash in mixed denominations, and text messages are the evidence prosecutors reach for.
Possession of drug paraphernalia is a drug petty offense under C.R.S. § 18-18-428, carrying a fine of not more than $100 and no jail exposure.
The practical danger is not the fine. Paraphernalia in plain view can supply the probable cause an officer needs to search further, turning a minor stop into a felony investigation.
Unlawful use of a controlled substance is a separate level 2 drug misdemeanor under C.R.S. § 18-18-404.
Adults 21 and older may possess up to two ounces of marijuana. Beyond that, marijuana offenses fall under section 18-18-406 of the criminal code, where more than six ounces becomes a level 1 drug misdemeanor.
Proposition 122, the Natural Medicine Health Act approved by voters in 2022, decriminalized personal possession and sharing of psilocybin, psilocin, ibogaine, mescaline, and dimethyltryptamine for adults 21 and older. Selling those substances remains prohibited.
A few common fact patterns map onto statutes beyond simple possession:
Reading the charging documents closely often reveals counts that do not match the evidence.
Every drug case begins with a search, and every search has to satisfy constitutional limits. At Liberty Law Center, our defense work concentrates there first.
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution restricts when officers may stop, detain, and search. Our attorneys examine whether the initial stop was justified and whether the officer stayed within its lawful scope.
When a search crossed those limits, we file a motion to suppress, which asks the court to exclude the seized substances from evidence. Successful suppression can leave prosecutors without the proof their case depends on.
Possession under Colorado law requires knowledge and control, not ownership. Drugs found in a shared vehicle or a residence with several occupants raise a legitimate question about who possessed them.
We look at seating position, access to the container, statements made at the scene, and whether officers tested the packaging for fingerprints.
Weight drives the charging level, so laboratory results carry unusual significance. Our team requests testing protocols, instrument calibration records, and the complete chain of custody documentation.
Errors in handling or measurement can move a case from felony territory back down to a misdemeanor.
The sentence is not the end of the consequences. A drug conviction surfaces on background checks run by employers, landlords, and licensing boards, and it can affect immigration status and firearm rights.
Colorado does allow sealing. Under C.R.S. § 24-72-706, a drug petty offense may be sealed one year after final disposition or release from supervision. Any drug misdemeanor becomes eligible after two years, and a level 3 or level 4 drug felony after three years.
A deferred judgment offers a stronger path. Under that arrangement, the court delays entering a conviction while you complete agreed conditions, and the records are sealed once the case is dismissed.
The Colorado Judicial Branch publishes the forms for sealing a case. We evaluate sealing eligibility while resolving the charge, not years afterward.
Yes, though the charge is normally a level 1 drug misdemeanor rather than a felony. Officers may also issue a summons instead of taking you into custody.
Prosecutors must prove you knew about the substance and had control over it. Shared access to a vehicle gives us a real basis to contest that element.
Any drug misdemeanor conviction becomes eligible two years after final disposition or release from supervision. Drug petty offenses become eligible after one year.
Yes. Possessing more than two ounces remains an offense in Colorado, and the charge level rises as the quantity increases.
Yes. A fourth or subsequent possession offense is charged as a level 4 drug felony even when the quantity recovered is small.
If an officer handed you a summons after finding a controlled substance, two facts matter more than anything else right now: The four-gram line and the search that produced the evidence.
Our attorneys defend possession, paraphernalia, and distribution charges in El Paso County courts. Attorney William Beck and our team review the stop, the search, the lab work, and the charging level in every case we accept.
We will explain what your charge carries, which defenses the record supports, and whether sealing is available once the case resolves. You can ask us about the legal options in your situation during a free case evaluation.
Call 719-285-4889 or reach our Colorado Springs drug defense attorneys through our contact page.
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