What is drug paraphernalia and is it illegal in Canada?

March 05, 2024

What is drug paraphernalia and is it illegal in Canada?

Drug paraphernalia refers to anything used to produce, conceal, process, inject, inhale or otherwise introduce drugs into a person. These items exist in many forms. Some are designed to look like everyday items while others have colourful logos, celebrity images or designs such as smiley faces. They can be obtained online or through specialty stores known as bong or head shops. In addition, some tobacco, gift and convenience stores openly sell these items.

What are some examples of drug paraphernalia?

Bongs or water pipes. Used to smoke cannabis, crack, methamphetamine or salvia divinorum (street name salvia or Sally-D). They come in various shapes, colours, materials, styles and sizes and are often made of acrylic, ceramic or glass but can also be made using empty bottles.

Glass tubes. Used to smoke crack (rock cocaine) and methamphetamine in the form of crystal (crystal meth).

Homemade pipes. When there is no glass tube available to smoke crack, homemade pipes are easily made from soda cans, metal pipes, plastic bottles or tubes.

Steel wool and window screen. Used as a filter when smoking substances out of a tube or bottle.
Pipes. Used to smoke marijuana, hashish, crack or methamphetamine.

Aluminium foil, baggies or wax paper. These materials are used as wrappers when selling substances such as cannabis. Metal foil can also be used as a base to burn a substance and inhale the smoke.

Grinders. Used to grind cannabis for smoking.

Rolling paper or cigarette paper. Used for rolling marijuana joints.

Spoons and knives. Used when crack and other drugs are burned before being inhaled.
Garrots, ties, tourniquets, non-lubricated condoms. Used to raise the vein and slow the flow of blood to facilitate the injection of drugs.

Scales. Used to weigh substances when selling drugs.

Roach clips. Used to hold a marijuana joint.

Straws and syringes. Used to snort or inject drugs.

Snuff snorter, snorter, bumpers. Used to snort drugs in powder form.

Is it illegal to possess drug paraphernalia?

It is not a criminal offence to possess drug paraphernalia in Canada. However, some municipalities have bylaws dealing with how they are used. In Kingston, Ont., for example, it is illegal to “use or display drug paraphernalia in a park or in any public place that is within 15 metres of a park,” with offenders facing a maximum $200 fine.

You can also be charged if you bring drug paraphernalia into the United States. U.S. Code Title 21 Section 863 makes it “unlawful for any person to sell or offer for sale drug paraphernalia; to use the mails or any other facility to transport drug paraphernalia; or to import or export drug paraphernalia.”
This crime carries a maximum sentence of three years in a U.S. corrections facility.

Up until 2018, it was illegal to import or export drug paraphernalia, or literature related to drug use, in and out of Canada. After the Cannabis Act was introduced that year, legalizing the sale of cannabis through licenced retailers, s.462.2 of the Criminal Code was struck down. Until that point, first offenders faced a maximum fine of $100,000 or six months in jail or both, with repeat offenders facing a maximum fine of $300,000 or one year in jail or both.

What if police find drug paraphernalia in my car or home?

If drug paraphernalia is in plain view, officers may have reasonable and probable grounds to believe there are illegal drugs in your possession. They can then demand to search your car or home since it is probable that drugs or other evidence would be removed if they first had to obtain a warrant.

How do I dispose of drug paraphernalia?

The RCMP states officers do not need to be called if people find drug paraphernalia on their property or in a public space. They advise that “no one should ever pick up discarded drug items with their bare hands. Instead, the [items] should be picked up with gloves or a tool like a grabbing claw.”

Once they are retrieved, the RCMP states the items should be placed in a plastic bag and put into the garbage.

According to Ottawa Public Health, citizens should not put “needles, glass stems, or other sharps in the garbage or recycling bin.” Instead, residents are given two methods to dispose of drug paraphernalia, specifically needles.

The first is to call 3-1-1 to dispatch City staff to retrieve the items. The second is to:

• Use tongs, pliers or tweezers to pick up the item so that the sharp end is pointing away from you.
• Place a plastic container or empty bottle on a stable surface. Put the needle point down into the container and secure the container shut. Do not hold the container in your hand while placing the needle inside.
• Dispose of the container at one of the 80 tamper-proof needle drop boxes located across the city. “Do not flush needles down the toilet, and do not put them in the garbage or recycling bin,” the agency advises.
• Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer.
• Report what you disposed of to Ottawa Public Health through the Public Reporting Webform.

Call me for assistance

While you cannot be charged in Canada for drug paraphernalia possession you may be facing other charges related to the sale or use of illegal substances. A conviction could lead to jail time and will hurt your chances for employment or for crossing the border. Don’t take that chance. Call me for a free consultation, in French or English, to explore all your legal options. 

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