21 U.S.C. § 855
Section 855 · Alternative fine
This is § 415 of the Controlled Substances Act
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 9 court decisions — leading case United States v. Michelena-Orovio (1983)
Most recently applied in Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. v. Price (August 2017)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. 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.
In lieu of a fine otherwise authorized by this part, a defendant who derives profits or other proceeds from an offense may be fined not more than twice the gross profits or other proceeds.