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Legal Information: U.S. Virgin Islands

Statutes: Virgin Islands, U.S.

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Updated: 
November 15, 2023

593. Definitions

As used in this chapter:
 

(1) The term ‘addict‘ means any individual who habitually uses any narcotic drug so as to endanger the public morals, health, safety, or welfare, or who is so far addicted to the use of narcotic drugs as to have lost the power of self-control with reference to his addiction.
 

(2) The term ‘administer‘ refers to the direct application of a controlled substance to the body of a patient or research subject by-
 

(A) a practitioner (or, in his presence, by his authorized agent), or
 

(B) the patient or research subject at the direction and in the presence of the practitioner, whether such application be by injection, inhalation, ingestion, or any other means.
 

(3) The term ‘agent‘ means an authorized person who acts on behalf of or at the direction of a manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser; except that such term does not include a common or contract carrier, public warehouseman, or employee of the carrier or warehouseman, when acting in the usual and lawful course of the carrier’s warehouseman’s business.
 

(4) The term ‘bath salts‘ means a synthetic cathinone, either 3, 4-methyl enedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) or mephedrone.
 

(5) The term ‘Commissioner‘ means the Commissioner of Health.
 

(6) The term ‘control‘ means to add a drug or other substance, or immediate precursor, to a schedule under section 595 of this chapter, whether by transfer from another schedule or otherwise.
 

(7) The term ‘controlled substance‘ means a drug or other substance, or immediate precursor, included in Schedule I, II, III, IV, or V of section 595 of this chapter. The term does not include distilled spirits, wine, malt beverages, or tobacco, as those terms are defined or used elsewhere in this code. The term does not include industrial hemp as defined in 7 V.I.C. § 200(e).
 

(8) The term ‘counterfeit substance‘ means a controlled substance which, or the container or labeling of which, without authorization, bears the trademark, trade-name, or other identifying mark, imprint, number, or device or any likeness thereof, of a manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser other than the person or persons who in fact manufactured, distributed, or dispensed such substance and which thereby falsely purports or is represented to be the product of, or to have been distributed by, such other manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser.
 

(9) The terms ‘deliver‘ or ‘delivery‘ mean the actual, constructive, or attempted transfer of a controlled substance, whether or not there exists an agency relationship.
 

(10) The term ‘depressant or stimulant substance‘ means-
 

(A) a drug which contains any quantity of (i) barbituric acid or any of the salts of barbituric acid; or (ii) any derivative of barbituric acid which has been designated by the Secretary as habit forming under section 502(d) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 352(d)); or
 

(B) a drug which contains any quantity of (i) amphetamine or any of its optical isomers; (ii) any salt of amphetamine or any salt of an optical isomer of amphetamine; or (iii) any substance which the Commissioner, after investigation, has found to be, and by regulation designated as, habit forming because of its stimulant effect on the central nervous system; or
 

(C) Lysergic acid diethylamide; or
 

(D) any drug which contains any quantity of a substance which the Commissioner, after investigation, has found to have, and by regulation designated as having, a potential for abuse because of its depressant or stimulant effect on the central nervous system or its hallucinogenic effect.
 

(11) The term ‘designer drug‘ means a substance other than a controlled substance that is intended for human consumption and that either has a chemical structure substantially similar to that of a controlled substance in schedules I, II or III found in title 19, section 595, Virgin Islands Code or that produces an effect substantially similar to that of a controlled substance in schedules I, II or III. Examples of chemical classes in which designer drugs are found include, but are not limited to, the following: Phenethylamines, N-substituted piperidines, morphinans, ecgonines, quinazolinones, substituted indoles and arylcycloalkyamines.
 

(12) The term ‘dispense‘ means to deliver a controlled substance to an ultimate user or research subject by, or pursuant to the lawful order of, a practitioner, including the prescribing and administering of a controlled substance and the packaging, labeling, or compounding necessary to prepare the substance of such delivery. The term ‘dispenser‘ means a practitioner who so delivers a controlled substance to an ultimate user or research subject.
 

(13) The term ‘distribute‘ means to deliver (other than by administering or dispensing) a controlled substance. The term ‘distributor‘ means a person who so delivers a controlled substance.
 

(14) The term ‘drug‘ has the meaning given that term by section 201(g)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
 

(15) The term ‘drug paraphernalia‘ means all equipment, products, and materials of any kind which are used, intended for use, or designed for use in planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting, manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, preparing, testing, analyzing, packaging, repackaging, storing, containing, concealing, injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing into the human body a controlled substance in violation of this chapter. The term includes, but is not limited to:
 

(A) Kits used, intended for use, or designed for use in the planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, or harvesting of any species of plant which is a controlled substance or from which a controlled substance can be derived.
 

(B) Kits used, intended for use, or designed for use in manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, or preparing controlled substances.
 

(C) Isomerization devices used, intended for use or designed for use in increasing the potency of any species of plant which is a controlled substance.
 

(D) Testing equipment used, intended for use, or designed for use in identifying, or in analyzing the strength, effectiveness, or purity of, controlled substances.
 

(E) Scales and balances used, intended for use, or designed for use in weighing or measuring controlled substances.
 

(F) Diluents and adulterants, such as quinine hydrochloride, mannitol, mannite, dextrose, and lactose, used, intended for use, or designed for use in cutting controlled substances.
 

(G) Separation gins and sifters used, intended for use, or designed for use in removing twigs and seeds from, or in otherwise cleaning or refining cannabis.
 

(H) Containers intended for use, or designed for use in compounding controlled substances.
 

(I) Capsules, balloons, envelopes, and other containers used, intended for use or designed for use in packaging small quantities of controlled substances.
 

(J) Containers and other objects used, intended for use, or designed for use in storing or concealing controlled substances.
 

(K) Hypodermic syringes, needles, and other objects used, intended for use, or designed for use in parenterally injecting controlled substances into the human body.
 

(L) Objects including, but not limited to rolling papers, used, intended for use, or designed for use in ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing cannabis, cocaine, hashish, or hashish oil into the human body, such as:
 

(i) Metal, wooden, acrylic, glass, stone, plastic, or ceramic pipes, with or without screens, permanent screens, hashish heads, or punctured metal bowls.
 

(ii) Water pipes.
 

(iii) Carburetion tubes and devices.
 

(iv) Smoking and carburetion masks.
 

(v) Roach clips, meaning objects used to hold burning material such as a cannabis cigarette that has become too small or short to be held in the hand.
 

(vi) Miniature cocaine spoons and cocaine vials.
 

(vii) Chamber pipes.
 

(viii) Carburetor pipes.
 

(ix) Electric pipes.
 

(x) Air-driven pipes.
 

(xi) Chillums.
 

(xii) Bongs.
 

(xiii) Ice pipes or chillers.
 

(M) In determining whether an object is drug paraphernalia, a Court or other authority or jury shall consider, in addition to all other logically relevant factors, the following:
 

(i) Statements by an owner or by anyone in control of the object concerning its use.
 

(ii) The proximity of the object, in time and space, to a direct violation of the provisions of this chapter.
 

(iii) The proximity of the object to controlled substances.
 

(iv) The existence of any residue of controlled substances on the object.
 

(v) Direct or circumstantial evidence of the intent of an owner, or of anyone in control of the object, to deliver it to persons who he knows, or should reasonably know, intend to use the object to facilitate a violation of this chapter. The innocence of an owner, or of anyone in control of the object, as to a direct violation of this chapter shall not prevent a finding that the object is intended for use or designed for use as drug paraphernalia.
 

(vi) Instructions, oral or written, provided with the object concerning its use.
 

(vii) Descriptive materials accompanying the object which explain or depict its use.
 

(viii) Any advertising concerning its use.
 

(ix) The manner in which the object is displayed for sale.
 

(x) Whether the owner, or anyone in control of the object, is a legitimate supplier of like or related items to the community, such as a licensed distributor or dealer of tobacco products.
 

(xi) Direct or circumstantial evidence of the ratio of sales of the object or objects to the total sales of the business enterprise.
 

(xii) The existence and scope of legitimate uses for the object in the community.
 

(xiii) Expert testimony concerning its use.
 

(16) The term ‘felony‘ means any Federal, State or Virgin Islands offense classified by applicable Federal, State or Virgin Islands law as a felony.
 

(17) The term ‘imitation controlled substance‘ means
 

(A) a product specifically designed or manufactured to resemble the physical appearance of a controlled substance, such that a reasonable person of ordinary knowledge would not be able to distinguish the imitation from the controlled substance by its outward appearance, or
 

(B) a product, not a controlled substance, which, by representations made and by dosage unit appearance, including color, shape, size, or markings, would lead a reasonable person to believe that, if ingested, the product would have a stimulant or depressant effect similar to or the same as that of one or more of the controlled substances included in Schedules I through V, inclusive of section 595 of this chapter.
 

(18) The term ‘manufacture‘ means the production, preparation, propagation, compounding, or processing of a drug or other substance, either directly or indirectly or by extraction from substances of natural origin, or independently by means of chemical synthesis or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis, and includes any packaging or repackaging of such substance or labeling or relabeling of its container; except that such term does not include the preparation, compounding, packaging, or labeling of a drug or other substance in conformity with applicable State or local law by a practitioner as an incident to his administration or dispensing of such drug or substance in the course of his professional practice. The term ‘manufacturer‘ means a person who manufactures a drug or other substance.
 

(19) The term ‘marijuana‘ means all parts of any species of the plant cannabis, whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin extracted from any part of such plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such plant, its seeds or resin. Such term does not include the mature stalks of such plant, fiber produced from such stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of such plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such mature stalks (except the resin extracted therefrom), fiber, oil, or cake, or the sterilized seed of such plant which is incapable of germination.
 

(20) The term ‘narcotic drug‘ means any of the following, whether produced directly or indirectly by extraction from substances of vegetable origin, or independently by means of chemical synthesis, or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis:
 

(A) Opium, coca leaves, and opiates.
 

(B) A compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, or preparation of opium, coca leaves, or opiates.
 

(C) A substance (and any compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, or preparation thereof) which is chemically identical with any of the substances referred to in clause (A) or (B). Such term does not include decocainized coca leaves or extracts of coca leaves, which extracts do not contain cocaine or ecgonine.
 

(21) The term ‘opiate‘ means any drug or other substance having an addiction-forming or addiction-sustaining liability similar to morphine or being capable or conversion into a drug having such addiction-forming or addiction-sustaining liability.
 

(22) The term ‘opium poppy‘ means the plant of the species papaver somniferum L., except the seed thereof.
 

(23) The term ‘poppy straw‘ means all parts, except the seeds of the opium poppy, after mowing.
 

(24) The term ‘practitioner‘ means a physician, dentist, veterinarian, scientific investigator, pharmacy, hospital, or other person licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted, by the Government of the Virgin Islands, to distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to, administer, or use in teaching or chemical analysis, a controlled substance in the course of professional practice or research.
 

(25) The term ‘production‘ includes the manufacture, planting, cultivation, growing, or harvesting of a controlled substance.
 

(26) The term ‘immediate precursor‘ means a substance-
 

(A) which the Commissioner has found to be and by regulation designated as being the principal compound used, or produced primarily for use, in the manufacture of a controlled substance;
 

(B) which is an immediate chemical intermediary used or likely to be used in the manufacture of such controlled substance; and
 

(C) the control of which is necessary to prevent, curtail, or limit the manufacture of such controlled substance.
 

(27) The term ‘Secretary‘, unless the context otherwise indicates, means the Secretary of Health and Human Services of the United States.
 

(28) The term ‘State‘ means the Virgin Islands, any state, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and the Canal Zone.
 

(29) The terms ‘synthetic cannabinoid agonists‘, ‘piperazines‘, or ‘synthetic marijuana‘ mean any chemical compound that contains Benzylpiperazine, Trifluoromethylphenylpiperazine, 1,1-Dimethylheptyl-11-hydroxytetrahydro cannabinol. 1-Butyl-3-(1-naphthoyl)indole, 1-Pentyl-3-(1-naphthoyl)indole, dexanabinol, (1-(2-morpholin-4-ylethyl)indol-3-yl)-napthalen-l-ylmethanone (JWH-200), 1-pentyl-3-(2-methoxyphenylacetyl)indole (JWH-250), or 2-[(1R,3S)-3-hydroxycyclohexyl]-5-(2-methyloctan-2-yl)phenol). The term does not include synthetic cannabinoids that require a prescription, are approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, and are dispensed in accordance with Virgin Islands and federal law.
 

(30) The term ‘ultimate user‘ means a person who has lawfully obtained, and who possesses, a controlled substance for his own use or for the use of a member of his household or for an animal owned by him or by a member of his household.
 

(31) The term ‘United States‘, when used in a geographic sense, means all places and waters, continental or insular, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.