California Ecstasy Laws – What You Need to Know

California Ecstasy Crime	Maximum Jail/Prison Term
Simple possession – 11377 HS	1 year (many cases can be dismissed through diversion)
Possession for sale – 11378 HS	16 months, 2 years, or 3 years
Selling/transporting (“trafficking”) – 11379 HS	2, 3, or 4 years 3, 6, or 9 years if you transported ecstasy across more than two county lines and had an intent to sell it
Being under the influence – 11550 HS	1 year (many cases can be dismissed through diversion)
Driving under the influence – 23152f VC	6 months for a first offense (though judges usually grant a suspended sentence)

In this article, our California criminal defense attorneys summarize the state ecstasy laws including possible penalties and legal defenses:

• 1. Possessing ecstasy (11377 HS)
• 2. Possessing ecstasy for sale (11378 HS)
• 3. Transporting or selling ecstasy (11379 HS)
• 4. Being under the influence of ecstasy (11550 HS)
• 5. DUI of ecstasy (23152f VC)
• 6. How to fight criminal charges
• Additional resources

1. Possessing ecstasy (11377 HS)

Health and Safety Code 11337 HS criminalizes possessing drugs for personal use in California, also called “simple possession.” For a court to convict you of the possession of ecstasy, the prosecutor would need to prove that either:

• you knowingly carried the ecstasy on your person (“actual possession”); or
• you knowingly exercised control over the ecstasy, such as storing it in your car (“constructive possession”); or
• you and at least one other individual shared control of the ecstasy (“joint possession”).

In most cases, ecstasy possession is a misdemeanor carrying up to 1 year in jail and/or $1,000 in fines. However, you can often avoid any incarceration and get the charge dismissed if you finish a drug diversion program, such as:

• Proposition 36,
• Penal Code 1000 PC, or
• California drug court.

There are situations where you would face felony charges for simple ecstasy possession, such as if you were previously convicted of a sex offense that required you to register as a sex offender. Felony punishments for ecstasy possession are up to $10,000 in fines and a jail sentence of:

• 16 months,
• 2 years, or
• 3 years.¹

2. Possessing ecstasy for sale (11378 HS)

Health and Safety Code 11378 HS bans possessing drugs in California with the intent to sell them.² To demonstrate to the court that you were planning to sell the ecstasy rather than use it yourself, prosecutors will try to provide such evidence as:

• police found in your house large quantities of drugs in separate “ready to sell” baggies or containers;
• you carry a gun for protection in case a drug deal goes bad;
• police found in your house large amounts of cash which you earned from previous drug sales; and/or
• police found you in a locale where drug sales often take place.

In California, possession of ecstasy for sale is prosecuted as a felony with penalties of 16 months, two years, or three years in jail plus up to $10,000.³

3. Transporting or selling ecstasy (11379 HS)

Health and Safety Code 11379 HS makes it a crime to transport or sell drugs in California (commonly called “trafficking”). For you to get convicted of trafficking ecstasy, the prosecutor would have to show that you either:

• transported ecstasy,
• sold ecstasy,
• furnished ecstasy,
• administered ecstasy,
• imported ecstasy into California,
• gave away ecstasy, or
• offered to do any of the above.

The sentence for trafficking ecstasy is two, three, or four years in California State Prison. Though if the ecstasy was transported across more than two county lines with the intent to sell the ecstasy at the destination, the punishment grows to three, six, or nine years in prison.⁴

Note that judges will likely impose the longest sentencing term if you knew – or reasonably should have known – that the recipient of the ecstasy:

1. was pregnant,
2. had previously been convicted of a violent felony, or
3. was being treated for a mental health disorder or for a drug problem.⁵

Also note that if you are a non-citizen, a trafficking conviction could lead to your deportation.⁶

See our related article on manufacturing a controlled substance (HS 11379.6).

4. Being under the influence of ecstasy (11550 HS)

Health and Safety Code 11550 HS makes it a criminal offense to be under the influence of drugs in California, even if you are not carrying drugs when the police arrest you.⁷ For the court to convict you of being “under the influence” of ecstasy, the prosecutor has to show that:

• your physical or mental abilities are impaired “in any detectable manner,” and
• drugs are the reason for this impairment.⁸

Being under the influence of ecstasy is a misdemeanor carrying up to one year in jail. Though if you complete a diversion program, you may be able to do probation instead of jail and avoid a conviction.⁹

5. DUI of ecstasy (23152f VC)

Vehicle Code 23152(f) VC makes it a crime to drive a motor vehicle in California while under the influence of drugs.¹⁰ For you to be convicted of driving while high on ecstasy, the key element D.A. has to prove is that the ecstasy:

“so far affected the nervous system, the brain, or muscles as to impair to an appreciable degree the ability to operate a vehicle in a manner like that of an ordinarily prudent and cautious person in full possession of his faculties.”¹¹

Driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) is typically a misdemeanor and punished identically to driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). The sentence for a first-time conviction is up to six months in jail, up to $1,000 in fines, a driver’s license suspension, and DUI school.¹²

6. How to fight criminal charges

Here at Shouse Law Group, we have represented literally thousands of people charged with ecstasy crimes. In our experience, the following six defenses have proven very effective with prosecutors, judges, and juries in California:

1) Law enforcement discovered the ecstasy during an illegal search and seizure

If we can demonstrate that the police violated your Fourth Amendment rights – for example by neglecting to get a search warrant when one was required – the judge may suppress the ecstasy as evidence. This may then force prosecutors to drop the case for lack of proof.¹³

2) Law enforcement entrapped you

If an undercover police officer pressured you to purchase or sell ecstasy when you had no predisposition to, then the judge should drop the case because law enforcement may not coerce you into criminal activity (“entrapment“). As long as you never would have broken the law but for law enforcement placing you under duress, then you did nothing wrong.

3) You had no knowledge that the ecstasy was there

Maybe someone secretly planted the ecstasy on you, or maybe a friend mistakenly left it in your car. Unless prosecutors can prove beyond a reasonable doubt you realized the ecstasy was there, then you committed no crime.

4) There was no drug impairment

If the state charged you with DUID or being under the influence of ecstasy, a potential defense is to show that your reportedly “high” behavior stemmed from a medical or psychiatric event unrelated to controlled substances. Sometimes police misinterpret medical episodes such as seizures or diabetic comas as indicators that you are intoxicated from drugs.

5) Someone falsely accused you

It is not uncommon for people to face false accusations by someone else out of anger or revenge. In these cases, we would try to impeach the accuser’s credibility by showing they had a motivation to lie.

6) You did not plan to sell the ecstasy

Perhaps we can get a possession for sale charge lessened to simple possession by demonstrating there is inadequate evidence that you planned to sell the drugs. For example if you had a gun, we would argue that you did not carry it for drug deals and were instead just exercising your Second Amendment freedoms.

Evidence we commonly rely on includes any surveillance footage, eyewitnesses, and/or medical records. We can also call upon expert witnesses to testify that the police committed misconduct in handling the drugs, thereby “tainting” the evidence.

Additional resources

For help or more information beyond California ecstasy law, refer to the following:

• Narcotics Anonymous (NA) – A 12-step program to overcome drug addiction.
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA) – 24/7 treatment referral service.
• Ecstasy: What to Know – WebMD article about the drug’s properties and treatment.
• Ecstasy or MDMA – Drug Enforcement Administration fact-sheet on ecstasy.
• MDMA – Alcohol and Drug Foundation overview of ecstasy.

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Legal References