FAQ 08: Can I still be charged for drug paraphernalia if there were no drugs present?
Possession of drug paraphernalia is typically a charge that is added on to a drug possession charge. They find Marijuana and right next to the Marijuana they find some rolling papers. Rolling papers in and of themselves are innocuous. They’re not illegal. However, found next to some Marijuana, it’s a pretty fair inference for the police to make that they alright were going to be used to roll the Marijuana.
But if police just search your car, for example, and they just find rolling papers, a glass bong, a glass pipe that has never been used, there’s no residue of any drugs or tobacco or anything on it, that in it of itself is not a crime.