Legal penalties are determined in court.
The type of penalty someone gets for marijuana possession depends on the amount and the previous arrest record. Penalties vary from state to state, but each state has sentencing guidelines. This means that the longest jail term for possession of a small amount of marijuana is five years. It is possible to be forced to pay the fine and also serve the prison term. If a person has a large amount of marijuana, the limits of the fines and prison time go up.