Maintaining Drug Premises Law & Legal Definition

Maintaining a drug premises refers to keeping or maintaining any store, shop, warehouse, dwelling, building, or other structure or place or premise that is resorted to by a person for the purpose of using or obtaining a controlled substance in violation of Uniform Controlled Substances Act or that is used for keeping a controlled substance in violation of the Act.

Maintaining drug premises amounts to a felony in most states. The penalties prescribed depend on the location of the premises.

Example of a State statute on maintaining drug premises.

In Arkansas , any person who knowingly keep or maintain a drug premises is guilty of Class D felony. If the violation is committed on or within one thousand feet of the real property of a certified drug free zone it is a Class B felony.

The relevant portion of the law reads as follows:

A.C.A. § 5-64-402 Offenses relating to records, maintaining premises, etc.

(a) It is unlawful for any person: *** (2)[To] [k]nowingly to keep or maintain any store, shop, warehouse, dwelling, building, or other structure or place or premise that is resorted to by a person for the purpose of using or obtaining a controlled substance in violation of this chapter or that is used for keeping a controlled substance in violation of this chapter. (b) (1) Any person who violates this section is guilty of a Class D felony. (2) However, a violation of this section is a Class B felony if the violation is committed on or within one thousand feet (1,000') of the real property of a certified drug free zone. (c) The following are certified drug free zones: (1) A city or state park; (2) A public or private elementary or secondary school, public vocational school, or public or private college or university; (3) A community or recreation center; (4) A Boys Club, Girls Club, YMCA, or YWCA; or (5) A skating rink or video arcade.