(1) (a) Except as is otherwise provided for offenses concerning marijuana and marijuana concentrate in sections 18-18-406 and 18-18-406.5, or for natural medicine or natural medicine product in section 18-18-434, article 170 of title 12, or article 50 of title 44, any person who uses any controlled substance, except when it is dispensed by or under the direction of a person licensed or authorized by law to prescribe, administer, or dispense the controlled substance for bona fide medical needs, commits a level 2 drug misdemeanor.
(b) Repealed.
(1.1) Repealed. (2) and (3) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2010, (HB 10-1352), ch. 259, p. 1163, § 2, effective August 11, 2010.)
(4) Repealed.
Source: L. 92: Entire article R&RE, p. 354, § 1, effective July 1. L. 98: (4) added, p. 1435, § 4, effective July 1. L. 99: IP(1) amended, p. 799, § 17, effective July 1. L. 2000: (4) amended, p. 1359, § 41, effective July 1, 2001. L. 2002: (4) amended, p. 1583, § 12, effective July 1. L. 2003: (1) amended and (1.1) added, p. 2681, § 2, effective July 1; (3) amended, p. 2429, § 2, effective July 1. L. 2007: (1)(b) and (1.1) repealed, p. 1689, § 10, effective July 1. L. 2009: (4) repealed, (HB 09-1266), ch. 347, p. 1815, § 4, effective August 5. L. 2010: (1)(a), (2), and (3) amended, (HB 10-1352), ch. 259, p. 1163, § 2, effective August 11. L. 2012: (1)(a) amended, (SB 12-020), ch. 225, p. 988, § 5, effective May 29. L. 2013: (1)(a) amended, (SB 13- 250), ch. 333, p. 1909, § 9, effective October 1. Initiated 2022: (1)(a) amended, Proposition 122, L. 2022, effective upon proclamation of the Governor, December 27, 2022. L. 2023: (1)(a) amended, (SB 23-290), ch. 249, p. 1412, § 25, effective July 1.
Editor's note: (1) This section is similar to former § 18-18-104 as it existed prior to 1992.
(2) This section was amended by Proposition 122, with the proclamation of the governor on December 27, 2022. The vote count for the measure at the general election held November 8, 2022, was as follows: FOR: 1,296,992 AGAINST: 1,121,124 Cross references: For the legislative intent contained in the 2003 act amending subsection (1) and enacting subsection (1.1), see section 1 of chapter 424, Session Laws of Colorado 2003. For the legislative declaration in the 2012 act amending subsection (1)(a), see section 1 of chapter 225, Session Laws of Colorado 2012.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
23
cases (
1 in the last 5 years), 1993–2021 · leading case:
People v. Goodale, 78 P.3d 1103 (Colo. 2003).
People v. Goodale, 78 P.3d 1103 (Colo. 2003).
· cites it 20× “Section 18-18-404, however, explicitly excludes marihuana offenses.”
Campbell v. People, 73 P.3d 11 (Colo. 2003).
· cites it 13× “Section 18-18-405(1)(a), prohibiting possession of a controlled substance, and section 18-18-404, prohibiting use of a controlled substance, do not describe or punish identical conduct.”
People v. Warren, 55 P.3d 809 (Colo. Ct. App. 2002).
· cites it 4× “2001, the statute under which she was prosecuted here, punishes possession of a schedule II controlled substance more severely than § 18-18-404, C.R.S.2001, punishes use of that same substance.”
People v. Trusty, 53 P.3d 668 (Colo. Ct. App. 2001).
· cites it 4× “71, § 18-18-407(2)(a) at 8363 ("Upon a conviction for a violation of section 18-18-404 or 18-18-405, if the defendant unlawfully used any controlled substance in violation of section 18-18-404 or sold or distributed any controlled substance in violation of section 18-18-405…”
People v. Silva, 987 P.2d 909 (Colo. Ct. App. 1999).
· cites it 5× “A defendant’s guilty plea under § 18-18-404, C.R.S.1998, also is considered to be a conviction because it establishes guilt.”
People v. Roberts, 865 P.2d 938 (Colo. Ct. App. 1993).
· cites it 13× “Section 18-18-404, C.R.S. (1993 Cum. Supp.”
People v. Drake, 983 P.2d 135 (Colo. Ct. App. 1999).
· cites it 11× “On appeal, defendant contends that he should have been sentenced pursuant to § 18-18-404, C.R.S.1998, and that the trial court thus erred by imposing a prison sentence.”
People v. Pate, 878 P.2d 685 (Colo. 1994).
· cites it 4× “Section 42-2-122(1)( l ) requires the Department of Revenue to revoke the license of a driver upon receiving notice that the driver has "[b]een convicted of any felony offense provided for in [sections 18-18-404 to -406, 8B C.R.S. (1993 Supp.”
People v. Alameno, 193 P.3d 830 (Colo. 2008).
· cites it 3× “(2008); one count of unlawful use of a schedule II controlled substance under section 18-18-404, C.R.S. (2008); one count of tampering with physical evidence by destruction under section 18-8-610, C.”
People v. Campbell, 58 P.3d 1080 (Colo. Ct. App. 2002).
· cites it 3× “2001, and the unlawful use of a controlled substance statute, § 18-18-404, C.R.S.2001, violates equal protection principles.”
Rutter v. People, 2015 CO 71 (Colo. 2015).
· cites it 2× “2, § 18-18-404(1)(a)(I), 2003 Colo. Sess. Laws 2681 , 2681â82.”
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-18-404(1): 1 case
Campbell v. People, 73 P.3d 11 (Colo. 2003).
“Section 18-18-405(1)(a), prohibiting possession of a controlled substance, and section 18-18-404, prohibiting use of a controlled substance, do not describe or punish identical conduct.”
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-18-404(1)(a): 5 cases
People v. Goodale, 78 P.3d 1103 (Colo. 2003).
“Section 18-18-404, however, explicitly excludes marihuana offenses.”
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-18-404(1)(a)(I): 2 cases
Rutter v. People, 2015 CO 71 (Colo. 2015).
“2, § 18-18-404(1)(a)(I), 2003 Colo. Sess. Laws 2681 , 2681â82.”
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-18-404(1)(b): 1 case
People v. Goodale, 78 P.3d 1103 (Colo. 2003).
“Section 18-18-404, however, explicitly excludes marihuana offenses.”
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-18-404(2): 3 cases
People v. Silva, 987 P.2d 909 (Colo. Ct. App. 1999).
“A defendant’s guilty plea under § 18-18-404, C.R.S.1998, also is considered to be a conviction because it establishes guilt.”
People v. Drake, 983 P.2d 135 (Colo. Ct. App. 1999).
“On appeal, defendant contends that he should have been sentenced pursuant to § 18-18-404, C.R.S.1998, and that the trial court thus erred by imposing a prison sentence.”
People v. Roberts, 865 P.2d 938 (Colo. Ct. App. 1993).
“Section 18-18-404, C.R.S. (1993 Cum. Supp.”
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-18-404(3): 3 cases
People v. Roberts, 865 P.2d 938 (Colo. Ct. App. 1993).
“Section 18-18-404, C.R.S. (1993 Cum. Supp.”
People v. Drake, 983 P.2d 135 (Colo. Ct. App. 1999).
“On appeal, defendant contends that he should have been sentenced pursuant to § 18-18-404, C.R.S.1998, and that the trial court thus erred by imposing a prison sentence.”
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-18-404(8): 1 case
People v. Goodale, 78 P.3d 1103 (Colo. 2003).
“Section 18-18-404, however, explicitly excludes marihuana offenses.”
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-18-404(l)(a): 2 cases
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.