San Diego Top-Rated Drug Crime Attorney

Drug Charge Defense in San Diego

A drug arrest can change the direction of your life in a single afternoon. Beyond the possibility of jail or prison, a drug conviction can affect employment, professional licensing, immigration status, housing, and custody arrangements. Whether you have been charged with misdemeanor possession or accused of selling or transporting a controlled substance, the decisions you make in the first days of a case matter.

Marc Kohnen has defended drug cases in San Diego for more than a decade, from single-count possession matters to multi-defendant sales prosecutions. His more than 50 five-star Yelp reviews reflect the way he handles cases: he returns calls, explains the process in plain language, and starts working on the defense immediately rather than waiting for the first court date.

Marc also understands something that too often gets lost in a courtroom: many drug cases begin with addiction, not malice. California law has moved substantially toward treating substance use as a health issue, and a significant part of defending a drug case today is knowing when to fight the evidence, when to pursue a treatment-based resolution, and when to do both at once.

At Law Office of Marc S. Kohnen, every drug case starts the same way — with a careful review of how the police found the drugs, what they did during the stop or search, and whether the charge actually fits the facts.

The Spectrum of California Drug Charges

California's Health and Safety Code covers a wide range of drug offenses, and the difference between one code section and the next can be the difference between a misdemeanor resolved through treatment and a felony carrying a prison term. The most common charges include:

• Simple possession — Health and Safety Code sections 11350 (narcotics such as cocaine and heroin) and 11377 (methamphetamine and similar substances). Since Proposition 47 passed in 2014, simple possession for personal use is generally a misdemeanor for most defendants.
• Possession for sale — sections 11351 and 11378. These are felonies, and they turn on intent rather than quantity alone.
• Sales and transportation — sections 11352 and 11379, which cover selling, furnishing, giving away, offering to sell, or transporting for sale a controlled substance.
• Being under the influence of a controlled substance — section 11550, a misdemeanor that is often charged alongside possession.
• Possession of drug paraphernalia — section 11364.
• Cultivation of marijuana beyond the limits allowed under state law.
• Prescription fraud — section 11173, which covers obtaining controlled medications by fraud, misrepresentation, or concealment of material facts, commonly called doctor shopping.

Personal Use or Possession for Sale? How Prosecutors Draw the Line

The single most consequential dividing line in drug cases is the one between possession for personal use and possession for sale. Personal-use possession is generally a misdemeanor and frequently eligible for diversion. Possession for sale is a felony, diversion is generally off the table, and the penalties climb sharply from there.

What is striking is how thin the evidence for that dividing line can be. Prosecutors typically rely on what they call indicia of sales: a digital scale, empty baggies or other packaging material, so-called pay-owe sheets, quantities of cash, multiple cell phones, or text messages that arguably reference transactions. A narcotics officer then testifies as an opinion witness that, based on training and experience, the drugs were possessed for sale rather than personal use.

Each of those inferences can be challenged. A scale is also how a buyer confirms not being shorted. Baggies are how drugs are sold to users, so a person who buys in small quantities may have them for entirely personal reasons. Cash has countless innocent sources, and ambiguous text messages rarely say what the prosecution wishes they said. The officer's opinion is exactly that — an opinion built on inference, not direct evidence — and a thorough cross-examination can expose how much of it is assumption.

Marc has handled these cases from both angles: attacking the sales theory to reduce a felony to a misdemeanor possession count, and attacking the search that produced the drugs in the first place. Which approach fits your case depends on facts that need to be reviewed early, while witnesses' memories are fresh and evidence is still available.

Marijuana Charges After Proposition 64

Proposition 64 legalized recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older in California in 2016, and many people assume that marijuana cases are a thing of the past. They are not. State law still criminalizes marijuana in specific contexts, and people are still arrested and charged in San Diego County.

Conduct that remains criminal generally includes selling marijuana without a license, possessing more than the legal personal-use limits, cultivating more plants than the law allows, possession by minors, furnishing marijuana to minors, and possessing marijuana in certain prohibited locations. Unlicensed sale in particular is charged regularly, and the same personal-use-versus-sales battle described above plays out in marijuana cases too.

If you have been charged with a marijuana offense, do not assume legalization protects you — but do not assume the prosecution's theory holds up either. The details of quantity, packaging, licensing, and intent all matter, and they are all contestable.

Drug Enforcement in San Diego County Today

San Diego's location shapes how drug cases are investigated and charged here. The county sits on one of the busiest land border crossings in the world, and local law enforcement regularly works alongside federal agencies through joint task forces. The result is a county where drug enforcement is well resourced, investigations can involve multiple agencies, and cases sometimes move between state and federal court.

In recent years, fentanyl has reshaped enforcement priorities. Prosecutors throughout California treat cases involving fentanyl with particular seriousness, and charging decisions in San Diego County reflect that. None of this means a fentanyl-related case cannot be defended — the constitutional protections and evidentiary requirements are the same — but it does mean these cases are prosecuted attentively, and the defense needs to be prepared to the same standard.

The legal landscape also shifted with Proposition 36, approved by California voters in November 2024. Speaking generally, the measure increased potential consequences for certain repeat offenses involving hard drugs and created a pathway under which some repeat possession cases can be charged more seriously, paired with treatment-based options. How these provisions apply to a particular case depends on the person's record and the specific charge, which is one more reason to have the facts reviewed by counsel rather than guessing at your exposure.

The Fourth Amendment: The Heart of Most Drug Defenses

Most drug prosecutions rise or fall on a single question: was the search legal? Unlike many crimes, a drug case usually depends entirely on physical evidence — the drugs themselves. If that evidence was obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment, it can be suppressed, and without it the prosecution often has no case.

The issues come up in predictable places. Many drug cases begin with a traffic stop for a minor violation that serves as a pretext for a drug investigation. Officers may prolong the stop beyond the time needed to handle the traffic issue, waiting for a K-9 unit or fishing for consent to search. Courts have made clear that a stop cannot be extended for a drug investigation without independent justification, and the timeline of a stop — captured on body cameras and dash cameras — is often where a case is won.

K-9 sniffs raise their own questions, including the dog's training and reliability records and whether the alert actually occurred as described. Search warrants can be attacked as well: an affidavit may rest on stale information, an informant whose reliability was never established, or descriptions so broad that the warrant fails constitutional scrutiny. Consent searches invite questions about whether consent was actually given, whether it was voluntary, and whether the search exceeded its scope.

The tool for raising all of this is a motion to suppress under Penal Code section 1538.5. It is litigated before trial, it puts the officers under oath and subject to cross-examination, and a successful motion frequently ends the case. Marc files and litigates these motions regularly, and evaluating the suppression issues is among the first things he does in every drug case.

Diversion, Drug Court, and Treatment-Based Alternatives

California law offers several ways to resolve qualifying drug cases without a conviction, reflecting the recognition that treatment produces better outcomes than incarceration for people whose charges stem from substance use.

Penal Code section 1000 pretrial diversion allows eligible defendants charged with certain personal-use drug offenses to complete a treatment and education program; when the program is completed, the charges are dismissed. Drug court offers a more intensive, court-supervised treatment track for people who need more structure. Separate diversion programs exist for people whose charges are connected to a treatable mental health condition and for current and former members of the military dealing with service-related conditions such as PTSD or substance use.

Eligibility rules, program requirements, and outcomes differ across these options, and choosing the right one — or deciding to fight the case instead — is a strategic decision. Law Office of Marc S. Kohnen maintains dedicated pages on drug diversion, mental health diversion, and military diversion with more detail, and Marc can assess quickly which doors are open in your situation.

Federal Charges and the Border

Because of San Diego's proximity to the border, drug cases involving larger quantities — or any arrest at a port of entry or border checkpoint — can be charged federally rather than in state court. Federal drug statutes, including the importation laws, carry sentencing rules that differ substantially from California's, and federal court is a different arena with its own procedures and prosecutors.

Marc defends clients in both state and federal court, which matters in a county where the line between the two systems is crossed regularly. If your case involves importation allegations or federal charges, see the firm's dedicated page on drug importation defense for a fuller discussion.

How Marc Kohnen Builds a Drug Case Defense

Every drug case Marc takes starts with the same disciplined review. He obtains the reports, body camera footage, dispatch logs, and lab records, and reconstructs the encounter minute by minute. He looks first at the stop and the search, because suppression is the most powerful tool available. He then tests the prosecution's theory of the charge itself: Was the substance actually what the lab says it is? Was the quantity accurately weighed? Does the evidence really support an intent to sell, or only an assumption?

At the same time, he evaluates every alternative resolution — diversion eligibility, treatment-based dispositions, and charge reductions — so that no option is left unexplored while the litigation moves forward. Prosecutors respond differently to a defense that is prepared to file motions and try the case, and that preparation is what creates leverage in negotiations.

Marc handles each case personally. When you call Law Office of Marc S. Kohnen, you speak with the attorney who will stand next to you in court, not a case manager.

Common Questions About San Diego Drug Charges

These are some of the questions people ask most often after a drug arrest. Every case is different, and none of this replaces advice about your specific situation.

Will a drug charge stay on my record?

Not necessarily. If your case is resolved through pretrial diversion under Penal Code section 1000, the charge is dismissed upon successful completion, and the law limits how the arrest can be used afterward. Even where a conviction occurs, California provides post-conviction relief options for many drug offenses. The goal from day one is to resolve the case in the way that leaves the smallest possible footprint on your record, and the available paths depend heavily on the specific charge and your history.

Do I have to let the police search my car or my home?

You are not required to consent to a search, and declining to consent cannot legally be held against you. Police may still search in certain circumstances — with a warrant, incident to a lawful arrest, or under recognized exceptions — but whether those circumstances actually existed is precisely what a motion to suppress tests. If you already consented, the case is not over: consent must be voluntary, and searches that exceed the scope of consent can still be challenged.

The drugs were not mine. Does that matter?

It can matter a great deal. Possession requires that you knew the substance was there, knew its nature as a controlled substance, and had control over it. Drugs found in a shared car, a borrowed jacket, or a common area of a home raise real questions about who actually possessed them, and the prosecution bears the burden of proving knowledge and control beyond a reasonable doubt. These cases turn on details, and those details need to be developed early.

Is treatment instead of jail a realistic outcome?

For many people charged with personal-use offenses, yes. California has built multiple treatment-based pathways into its drug laws, and San Diego courts use them regularly. Eligibility depends on the charge and your record, and some charges — particularly sales offenses — generally do not qualify, which is one more reason the fight over how a case is charged matters so much. If addiction is part of your story, tell your attorney honestly; it opens options rather than closing them.

Contact Marc Kohnen, Drug Crime Defense Attorney in San Diego

If you or someone you care about is facing a drug charge in San Diego County, the most useful step you can take is a conversation about the actual facts of the case — how the stop happened, what was found, and what the realistic paths forward look like. Marc Kohnen will walk you through your rights, the charges, and the defense strategy he would pursue.

Call Law Office of Marc S. Kohnen at (619) 398-2500 today to discuss your case.

More on Drug Crimes

• Drug Distribution — Sales, transportation and trafficking allegations, state and federal.
• Drug Possession — Simple possession through possession-for-sale — fighting the charge and the record.