User:Enix150/Paraphernalia

Reagent test kits are legal at the federal level, but there are varying state laws defining "drug paraphernalia", each determining the circumstances under which reagent test kits can be sold. The following states have made tools for chemical identification and analysis illegal if they are intended for controlled substances:

Alabama

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia (?)

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa (?)

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota (?)

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

North Carolina

Ohio

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Washington, D.C.

Whereas most state laws define paraphernalia with the phrase "Testing equipment intended to be used unlawfully for identifying or in analyzing the strength, effectiveness or purity of controlled substances", the three states marked with a (?) instead chose the shortened wording "Testing the strength, effectiveness, or purity of a controlled substance." Since most reagent tests can only be used for presumptive identification anyway, this wording leaves the kits well within the law, regardless of the user's intention. Strength, effectiveness, and purity cannot be accurately ascertained by any of the standard reagents.

These states appear not to have outlawed tools for analysis of controlled substances:

Alaska

Nebraska

New York

North Dakota

Oklahoma

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Virginia

Wyoming

What this means is that in most states (40/50) the kits can be considered paraphernalia if the user admits they are for testing illegal drugs. That means no labels or charts alluding to scheduled substances! Hopefully you are only testing legal compounds, so this should not be an issue in any state (unless someone can provide case-law otherwise). If being used properly, these kits are legal in all 50 states.

Keep in mind that websites like justia.com and findlaw.com are not always 100% accurate, so finding your state's .gov website with its own definition of paraphernalia is always best.