<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<baltimore-city-law heading="§ 17-6 Relevant factors.">
  <section prefix="§" num="17-6" heading="Relevant factors.">
    <para num="(a)" heading="In general.">To determine whether the use, possession, sale, or delivery of an object is prohibited by §§ 17-2 through 17-5 of this subtitle, a court should consider, among other logically relevant factors:<para num="(1)">any statement by an owner or a person in control of the object concerning its use;</para>
      <para num="(2)">any prior conviction of an owner or a person in control of the object under a state or federal law relating to controlled dangerous substances;</para>
      <para num="(3)">the proximity of the object, in time and space, to a direct violation of this subtitle or to a controlled dangerous substance;</para>
      <para num="(4)">any residue of a controlled dangerous substance on the object;</para>
      <para num="(5)">direct or circumstantial evidence of the intent of an owner or a person in control of the object to deliver it to another who the owner or person in control knows or should reasonably know, intends to use the object to facilitate a violation of &lt;em&gt;{the} &lt;/em&gt;Maryland Controlled Dangerous Substances Act;</para>
      <para num="(6)">any instructions, oral or written, provided with the object concerning its use;</para>
      <para num="(7)">any descriptive materials accompanying the object that explain or depict its use;</para>
      <para num="(8)">national or local advertising concerning the object’s use;</para>
      <para num="(9)">the manner in which the object is displayed for sale;</para>
      <para num="(10)">whether the owner or a person in control of the object is a licensed distributor or dealer of tobacco products or a legitimate supplier of related items to the community;</para>
      <para num="(11)">direct or circumstantial evidence of the ratio of sales of the object to the total sales of the business enterprise;</para>
      <para num="(12)">the existence and scope of legitimate uses for the object in the community;</para>
      <para num="(13)">expert testimony concerning the object’s use; and</para>
      <para num="(14)">any other verifiable information that indicates that the object is intended or designed for use in violation of law.</para>
    </para>
    <para num="(b)" heading="Innocence of owner not dispositive.">The innocence of an owner or person in control of the object as to a direct violation of this subtitle does not prevent a finding that the object is intended or designed for use in violation of this subtitle or the Maryland Controlled Dangerous Substances Act.</para>
    <annotation type="Prior Codifications">City Code, 1976/83, art. 19, §22B(e)</annotation>
    <annotation type="History">Ord. 92-129</annotation>
    <annotation type="History">Ord. 03-620</annotation>
    <annotation type="History">Ord. 15-365</annotation>
  </section>
</baltimore-city-law>
