The primary federal narcotics law is 21 U.S.C. section 841(b)(1), which sets the maximum and minimum penalties for possession with intent to distribute various controlled substances. 841(b)(1) has three subsections -- (A), (B), and (C). Each subsection contains penalties less severe than the preceding subsection:

PUNISHMENT
	841(b)(1)(A)	841(b)(1)(B)	841(b)(1)(C)
Time	10y-life	5-40y	0-20y
Fine	$4 million	$2 million	$1 million
Supervised Release	5y+	4y+	3y+
Class Felony	A	B	C
Sentence on revocation of supervised release	0-5y	0-3y	0-2y

Which subsection applies depends on the quantity and drug involved. For example:

Drug	841(b)(1)(A)	841(b)(1)(B)	841(b)(1)(C)
Methamphetamine (pure)	>=50g	>=5g	>5g
Methamphetamine (mixture)	>=500g	>=50g	<50g
Cocaine powder	>=5kg	>=500g	<500g
Cocaine base (crack)	>50g	>=5g	<5g
Marijuana	>=1000kg	>=100kg	<100kg
Marijuana plants	>=1000 plants	>=100 plants	<100 plants
Heroin	>=1kg	>=100g	<100g
LSD	>=10g	>=1g	<1g
PCP pure	>=100g	>=10g	<10g
PCP mixture	>=1kg	>=100g	<100g

Prior felony drug offenses increase the punishment range in all subsections under section 851(a)(1) of title 21 of the U.S. Code:

	841(b)1(A)	841(b)(1)(B)	841(b)(1)(C)
1 Drug prior (sec. 851(a)(1)	20y-life $8 million SR 10y	10y-life $4 million SR 8y	0-30y $2 million SR 6y
2 Drug priors	LIFE

Most federal drug cases are charged both as "substantive offenses" under section 841 and as conspiracies under section 846 of Title 21. According to section 846, the penalty for the conspiracy is the same as the penalty for the substantive offense.

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Mark.

This page is a work in progress. Because I'm busy helping people, I don't spend a lot of time working on it. If you'd like to discuss Federal drug laws, please contact me.