Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog

The statute prohibiting the dissemination of smoking paraphernalia to minors is very straightforward:

(a) It is an offense for a person to disseminate smoking paraphernalia to a minor.

(b) It is an offense to persuade, entice, send, or assist a minor to purchase, acquire, receive or attempt to purchase, acquire or receive smoking paraphernalia.

Simply put, it is an offense to give smoking paraphernalia to a minor or to encourage or assist a minor to buy or receive it in any way. For a little clarity, it is helpful to refer to the definitions section applicable to this particular statute to better understand what exactly smoking paraphernalia is:

"Smoking paraphernalia" means a cigarette holder, cigarette papers, smoking pipe, water pipe or other item that is designated primarily to hold smoking material while the smoking material is being smoked.

Essentially then, smoking paraphernalia is anything that is used to allow smoking material to be smoked.

Violation of this section is a class C misdemeanor, carrying a penalty of up to thirty days in jail and a small fine. While this may seem like a short amount of time to serve in jail, anyone who has ever been incarcerated will tell you to avoid serving time if at all possible. Additionally, any actions against minors, especially those who are the defendant's children, can negatively affect that individual's custody rights if the facts of the offense are severe enough. Contact an East Tennessee criminal defense attorney for a free consultation to discuss any charge that you are facing as well as all its potential ramifications.