SINGLE MARIJUANA OFFENSE EXCEPTION

Exception for single conviction for marijuana under 30 grams. INA 237(a)(2)(B)(i), 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(B)(i) (2006).

For purposes of INA 237(a)(2)(B)(i), 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(B)(i) (2006), the phrase a single offense involving possession for ones own use of thirty grams or less of marijuana calls for a circumstance-specific inquiry; a respondent convicted of more than one marijuana-related offense arising out of the same underlying facts may still meet the single offense exception. See Matter of Davey, 26 I&N Dec. 37 (BIA 2012).

Matter of Davey, 26 I&N Dec. 37 (BIA 2012)

Arizona convictions of possession of marijuana, in violation of Ariz. Rev. Statute 13-3405(A)(1), and possession of drug paraphernalia (the plastic bag in which the marijuana was contained), Ariz. Rev. Statute 13-3415(A), constituted a single offense involving a small quantity of marijuana, under INA 237(a)(2)(B)(i), 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(B)(i), since Congress meant offense in this statute to refer to the totality of an aliens specific acts on a single occasion, so the exception is available to a noncitizen convicted of more than one statutory offense, provided that each crime involved a single incident in which the alien possessed a small amount of marijuana for personal use.); following the reasoning of Matter of Martinez-Espinoza, 25 I&N Dec. 118, 124 (BIA 2009) (we concluded that the term offense used in [INA] section 212(h) was best understood as refer[ring] to the specific unlawful acts that made the alien inadmissible, rather than to any generic crime.).