(a) No person shall knowingly do any of the following:
(1) Sell or offer to sell a controlled substance or a controlled substance analog;
(2) Prepare for shipment, ship, transport, deliver, prepare for distribution or distribute a controlled substance or a controlled substance analog, when the offender knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the controlled substance or a controlled substance analog, is intended for sale or resale by the offender or another person.
(b) This section does not apply to any of the following:
(1) Manufacturers, licensed health professionals authorized to prescribe drugs, pharmacists, owners of pharmacies, and other persons whose conduct is in accordance with Ohio R.C. Chapters 3719, 4715, 4723, 4729, 4730, 4731, and 4741.
(2) If the offense involves an anabolic steroid, any person who is conducting or participating in a research project involving the use of an anabolic steroid if the project has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration.
(3) Any person who sells, offers for sale, prescribes, dispenses, or administers for livestock or other nonhuman species an anabolic steroid that is expressly intended for administration through implants to livestock or other nonhuman species and approved for that purpose under the "Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act" (21 U.S.C. 301 et seq., as amended), and is sold, offered for sale, prescribed, dispensed, or administered for that purpose in accordance with that Act.
(4) Any person who sells, offers for sale, prepares for shipment, ships, transports, delivers, distributes, or prepares for distribution, cannabis as allowed pursuant to Ohio R.C. Chapter 3780.
(c) Whoever violates division (a) of this section is guilty of the following:
(1) Except as otherwise provided in divisions (c)(2) and (c)(3) of this section, trafficking in controlled substances is a felony to be prosecuted under appropriate state law.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in this division, if the offense involves a gift of 20 grams or less of marihuana, trafficking in marihuana is a minor misdemeanor upon a first offense and a misdemeanor of the third degree upon a subsequent offense. If the offense involves a gift of 20 grams or less of marihuana and if the offense was committed in the vicinity of a school or in the vicinity of a juvenile, trafficking in marihuana is a misdemeanor of the third degree.
(3) If the drug involved in the violation is a compound, mixture, preparation, or substance that is a combination of a fentanyl-related compound and marihuana, one of the following applies:
A. Except as otherwise provided in division (c)(3)B. of this section, the offender is guilty of trafficking in marihuana and shall be punished under division (c)(2) of this section. The offender is not guilty of trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound and shall not be charged with, convicted of, or punished under R.C. § 2925.03(C)(9) for trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound.
B. If the offender knows or has reason to know that the compound, mixture, preparation, or substance that is the drug involved contains a fentanyl-related compound, the offender is guilty of trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound and shall be punished under R.C. § 2925.03(C)(9).
(d) As used in this section, "drug" includes any substance that is represented to be a drug.
(Ord. 2023-094. Passed 1-8-24.)
Statutory reference:
Trafficking, aggravated trafficking in drugs, see R.C. § 2925.03