Title 21Food and DrugsRelease 119-73

§962 Second or subsequent offenses

Title 21 › Chapter CHAPTER 13— - DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION AND CONTROL › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - IMPORT AND EXPORT › § 962

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

If someone is convicted again under these drug rules, the penalties are doubled: the jail time and the fine are twice what they would normally be. If the crime has supervised release under section 960(b) and it is a repeat, the court must also double the supervised-release term. "Second or subsequent" means the person had one or more earlier felony drug convictions that were final before the new crime. Sentencing must follow the procedures in section 851.

Full Legal Text

Title 21, §962

Food and Drugs — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Any person convicted of any offense under this subchapter is, if the offense is a second or subsequent offense, punishable by a term of imprisonment twice that otherwise authorized, by twice the fine otherwise authorized, or by both. If the conviction is for an offense punishable under section 960(b) of this title, and if it is the offender’s second or subsequent offense, the court shall impose, in addition to any term of imprisonment and fine, twice the term of supervised release otherwise authorized.
(b)For purposes of this section, a person shall be considered convicted of a second or subsequent offense if, prior to the commission of such offense, one or more prior convictions of such person for a felony drug offense have become final.
(c)section 851 of this title shall apply with respect to any proceeding to sentence a person under this section.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1994—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 103–322 substituted “one or more prior convictions of such person for a felony drug offense have become final” for “one or more prior convictions of him for a felony under any provision of this subchapter or subchapter I of this chapter or other law of a State, the United States, or a foreign country relating to narcotic drugs, marihuana, or depressant or stimulant drugs, have become final”. 1986—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99–570, § 1005(c), amended Pub. L. 98–473, § 225. See 1984 Amendment note below. Pub. L. 99–570, § 1004(a), substituted “term of supervised release” for “special parole term”. 1984—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98–473, § 225(b), which directed amendment of this section effective Nov. 1, 1987 (see section 235(a)(1) of Pub. L. 98–473 set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 3551 of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure) was omitted in the general amendment of section 225 of Pub. L. 98–473 by Pub. L. 99–570, § 1005(c). Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 98–473, § 505, inserted references to laws of a State or of a foreign country.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1986 AmendmentAmendment by section 1004(a) of Pub. L. 99–570 effective on date of taking effect of section 3583 of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure (Nov. 1, 1987), see section 1004(b) of Pub. L. 99–570 set out as a note under section 841 of this title.

Effective Date

Section effective on first day of seventh calendar month that begins after Oct. 26, 1970, see 1105(a) of Pub. L. 91–513, set out as a under section 951 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

21 U.S.C. § 962

Title 21Food and Drugs

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73