ARS 13-3407: Dangerous Drug Charges in Arizona Explained

What Does ARS 13-3407 Prohibit?

The charging paperwork says “POSSESSION OF DANGEROUS DRUG,” followed by a statute number, and suddenly ARS 13-3407 is the most important sentence of Arizona law in your life. The name alone does damage: “dangerous drug” sounds like something out of a trafficking case, when the actual charge is often a single baggie, a pipe with residue, or a friend’s Adderall in a backpack. This guide walks through what the statute actually says, subsection by subsection, and what each piece means for how a case plays out in a Maricopa County courtroom.

If you are the one facing the charge, the defense side of this offense, including strategy, suppression issues, and what our team does in the first week, is covered on our dedicated possession of a dangerous drug (ARS 13-3407) defense page. Our Arizona drug crimes hub covers the surrounding offenses. This article stays on the statute itself: what it prohibits, how it classifies, and where the escape hatches are.

ARS 13-3407 prohibits seven distinct acts involving dangerous drugs, each listed in subsection A of the statute. Under ARS 13-3407(A), a person shall not knowingly:

• Possess or use a dangerous drug, A(1), the everyday “simple possession” charge;
• Possess a dangerous drug for sale, A(2), the charge prosecutors file when quantity, packaging, cash, or messages suggest dealing;
• Possess equipment or chemicals for manufacturing a dangerous drug, A(3);
• Manufacture a dangerous drug, A(4);
• Administer a dangerous drug to another person, A(5);
• Obtain a dangerous drug by fraud, deceit, misrepresentation, or subterfuge, A(6), the doctor-shopping and forged-prescription subsection; and
• Transport for sale, import, sell, or transfer a dangerous drug, A(7).

Which paragraph appears on your charging document matters more than almost anything else in the case. The word “knowingly” matters too: the state must prove you knew the substance was there and knew what it was, which is why borrowed cars, shared apartments, and communal bags generate genuinely defensible cases.

What Counts as a “Dangerous Drug” in Arizona?

A “dangerous drug” is any substance on the long list in ARS 13-3401(6), which sweeps in hallucinogens, stimulants, depressants, and anabolic steroids by chemical name. In practice, the dangerous drug cases defense attorneys see most in Arizona courts involve:

• Methamphetamine and amphetamine, including prescription stimulants like Adderall possessed without a valid prescription;
• Hallucinogens, LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, mescaline, DMT;
• MDMA (ecstasy/molly) and similar synthetic stimulants;
• Depressants, ketamine, GHB, and benzodiazepines such as Xanax (alprazolam), Klonopin (clonazepam), and Valium (diazepam) without a prescription;
• Anabolic steroids such as testosterone and stanozolol; and
• Synthetic cannabinoids (spice/K2 compounds).

Notice what is not on the list. Marijuana has its own statutes and its own legal regime, and narcotics such as heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, and most opioid painkillers are charged under the separate narcotic drug statute, ARS 13-3408. Arizona essentially splits street drugs into “dangerous drugs” and “narcotic drugs,” and 13-3407 governs the first group. For the full substance-by-substance breakdown, see our guide to illegal drugs in Arizona.

What Felony Class Is an ARS 13-3407 Charge?

Every violation of ARS 13-3407 is a felony; the class depends on the subsection. Under ARS 13-3407(B), possession or use is a class 4 felony; obtaining by fraud and possessing manufacturing equipment are class 3 felonies (equipment becomes class 2 when methamphetamine is involved); and possession for sale, manufacturing, administering to another, and transporting for sale are all class 2 felonies, the second-most serious class in Arizona law.

How Do Threshold Amounts Change an ARS 13-3407 Case?

The “threshold amount” is a weight or dollar value defined in ARS 13-3401(36), and crossing it has one brutal consequence: under ARS 13-3407(D), a person convicted of possession for sale, administering, or transporting for sale involving at or above the threshold amount is not eligible for probation or a suspended sentence. Prison becomes mandatory.

The thresholds that matter most in dangerous drug cases are nine grams of methamphetamine (including meth in liquid suspension), nine grams of amphetamine, and for LSD, one-half milliliter or fifty blotter dosage units. For any substance without its own listed weight, the threshold is a street value of at least $1,000. Amounts from separate transactions can be aggregated to reach the threshold.

Two things about thresholds surprise people. First, the threshold does not separate “possession” from “possession for sale”, that turns on evidence of intent, which we break down in possession vs. possession for sale in Arizona. An amount under nine grams can still be charged as sale if the packaging and phone messages point that way. Second, the state’s weight includes the whole mixture, not the pure drug, which makes the lab report a real battleground. Our guide to Arizona drug threshold amounts covers how these numbers work across every drug category.

Does Prop 200 Guarantee Probation for ARS 13-3407 Possession?

For most first- and second-time personal possession convictions, yes. Under ARS 13-901.01, the statute voters created through Proposition 200 in 1996, a person convicted of personal possession or use of a controlled substance is eligible for mandatory probation: the court must suspend the sentence and impose probation with drug treatment or education, and cannot send a first-time personal-possession offender to prison.

The exceptions are where cases get lost. Prop 200 protection does not apply if you have a prior conviction for a violent crime, if this is your third or subsequent personal-possession conviction, if you refused drug treatment as a term of probation, or, the one that matters most under this statute, if the conviction involved methamphetamine. ARS 13-901.01(H)(4) expressly carves meth out, so a first-offense meth possession conviction under 13-3407(A)(1) is an ordinary class 4 felony where probation is possible but sits in the judge’s discretion, not guaranteed.

How Does Drug Diversion Work in Maricopa County?

For eligible defendants, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office runs a Felony Diversion Program that suspends prosecution while the participant completes an assessment-based treatment track: counseling, case management, and drug testing. Older guides call this “TASC” after the agency that historically administered drug diversion; MCAO folded its drug diversion and felony pretrial intervention tracks into a single Felony Diversion Program in 2020, now administered through a contracted counseling provider.

The payoff is the reason diversion dominates first-offense strategy: successful completion ends with the charge dismissed. No conviction, no felony record, no Prop 200 probation tail. Failing or quitting the program sends the case right back to the prosecution track, and statements or admissions made during treatment can create risk, so entering diversion is a decision to make with counsel, not a form to sign at arraignment.

What Realistically Happens on a First Offense?

For a first-time possession-or-use charge involving a non-meth dangerous drug, Arizona courts resolve most cases somewhere on this ladder, from best outcome to worst:

• Diversion and dismissal. In Maricopa County, defense attorneys commonly see clean-record defendants offered felony diversion; completing it means the charge disappears.
• Suppression or evidentiary dismissal. Dangerous drug cases live and die on the stop and the search. If the traffic stop, pat-down, or car search fails Fourth Amendment scrutiny, the drugs are excluded and the case usually collapses.
• Plea to a reduced or undesignated charge. Prosecutors frequently resolve marginal cases with pleas that leave room to convert the felony to a misdemeanor after probation.
• Prop 200 probation. Even after a straight conviction for personal possession of a non-meth dangerous drug, the sentence is mandatory probation with treatment, not prison.

Meth possession sits outside Prop 200, and anything charged as possession for sale changes the conversation entirely, because a class 2 felony over the threshold amount carries mandatory prison. That is why the single most consequential fight in many cases is not guilt: it is keeping the charge in the A(1) personal-possession lane.

How Tamou Law Group Defends ARS 13-3407 Cases

Our defense team, built around former prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and public defenders, starts every dangerous drug case in the same three places: the stop (was there a lawful basis to pull you over or approach you), the search (did officers exceed what the Fourth Amendment allows), and the connection (can the state actually prove you knowingly possessed this substance, as opposed to being near it). Alongside the constitutional fight, we work the charge itself: pushing sale allegations back to personal possession, positioning eligible clients for diversion, and litigating lab and weight issues when a threshold allegation threatens mandatory prison.

The full defense playbook for this charge, including what to do before your first court appearance, lives on our dangerous drug possession defense page. If you were just arrested or summoned, call 623-321-4699; the consultation is free and confidential.