§ 220.16 Criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third\n degree.\n A person is guilty of criminal possession of a controlled substance in\nthe third degree when he knowingly and unlawfully possesses:\n 1. a narcotic drug with intent to sell it; or\n 2. a stimulant, hallucinogen, hallucinogenic substance, or lysergic\nacid diethylamide, with intent to sell it and has previously been con-\nvicted of an offense defined in article two hundred twenty or the\nattempt or conspiracy to commit any such offense; or\n 3. a stimulant with intent to sell it and said stimulant weighs one\ngram or more; or\n 4. lysergic acid diethylamide with intent to sell it and said\nlysergic acid diethylamide weighs one milligram or more; or\n 5. a hallucinogen with intent to sell it and said hallucinogen weighs\ntwenty-five milligrams or more; or\n 6. a hallucinogenic substance with intent to sell it and said\nhallucinogenic substance weighs one gram or more; or\n 7. one or more preparations, compounds, mixtures or substances\ncontaining methamphetamine, its salts, isomers or salts of isomers with\nintent to sell it and said preparations, compounds, mixtures or\nsubstances are of an aggregate weight of one-eighth ounce or more; or\n 8. a stimulant and said stimulant weighs five grams or more; or\n 9. lysergic acid diethylamide and said lysergic acid diethylamide\nweighs five milligrams or more; or\n 10. a hallucinogen and said hallucinogen weighs one hundred\ntwenty-five milligrams or more; or\n 11. a hallucinogenic substance and said hallucinogenic substance\nweighs five grams or more; or\n 12. one or more preparations, compounds, mixtures or substances\ncontaining a narcotic drug and said preparations, compounds, mixtures or\nsubstances are of an aggregate weight of one-half ounce or more; or\n 13. phencyclidine and said phencyclidine weighs one thousand two\nhundred fifty milligrams or more.\n Criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree is a\nclass B felony.\n
N.Y. Penal Law § 220.16
Criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree
Applied in 229 court decisions — leading case Lora v. Shanahan (2015)
Most recently applied in 87 Misc. 3d 1247 - People v. Whyte (December 2025)
2014-09-22
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.