§ 220.03 Criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh\n degree.\n A person is guilty of criminal possession of a controlled substance in\nthe seventh degree when he or she knowingly and unlawfully possesses a\ncontrolled substance; provided, however, that it shall not be a\nviolation of this section when a person possesses a residual amount of a\ncontrolled substance and that residual amount is in or on a hypodermic\nsyringe or hypodermic needle; nor shall it be a violation of this\nsection when a person's unlawful possession of a controlled substance is\ndiscovered as a result of seeking immediate health care as defined in\nparagraph (b) of subdivision three of section 220.78 of this article,\nfor either another person or him or herself because such person is\nexperiencing a drug or alcohol overdose or other life threatening\nmedical emergency as defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision three of\nsection 220.78 of this article.\n Criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree is\na class A misdemeanor.\n
N.Y. Penal Law § 220.03
Criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree
Applied in 37 court decisions — leading case Johnson
Most recently applied in 87 Misc. 3d 133 - People v. Santana (Randy) (December 2025)
2021-10-15
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: NYS Open Legislation (New York State Senate). Reproduced from public-domain New York statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.