What Is Illegal in Washington State: Crimes, Drugs, and Weapons

Washington State’s criminal code, found in the Revised Code of Washington, makes a wide range of conduct illegal: violence against people, theft and damage to property, most drug possession and distribution, many weapons offenses, impaired driving, and a long list of public-order and online offenses. What is illegal in Washington State is organized by degree and class, with penalties scaling by harm caused, dollar value involved, and the defendant’s prior record. The sentencing ceilings are worth knowing up front. A class A felony carries up to life in prison and a $50,000 fine. A class B felony carries up to 10 years and $20,000. A class C felony carries up to 5 years and $10,000. Gross misdemeanors reach 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine; simple misdemeanors top out at 90 days and $1,000.

Crimes Against People

Offenses that harm or threaten another person draw the heaviest penalties in the code.

Assault

Washington splits assault into four degrees. First-degree assault means intentionally inflicting great bodily harm with a deadly weapon, with force likely to cause death, or by transmitting HIV to a child or vulnerable adult. It is a class A felony.¹

Second-degree assault covers intentionally inflicting substantial bodily harm, assaulting someone with a deadly weapon, strangling or suffocating another person, or administering poison. It is a class B felony, elevated to class A when a court finds sexual motivation.²

Fourth-degree assault is the catch-all gross misdemeanor for harmful or offensive physical contact without significant injury, or for placing someone in fear of bodily harm.

Homicide

First-degree murder requires premeditated intent to kill, conduct showing extreme indifference to human life creating a grave risk of death, or a killing during the commission of certain serious felonies such as robbery, rape, burglary, arson, or kidnapping. It is a class A felony.³ Second-degree murder and manslaughter carry lesser penalties, distinguished generally by whether the killing was intentional but unpremeditated, reckless, or the product of criminal negligence.

Kidnapping

First-degree kidnapping involves intentionally abducting someone to hold them for ransom, facilitate a felony, inflict bodily injury, cause extreme mental distress, or interfere with a governmental function. It is a class A felony.⁴ Second-degree kidnapping covers abductions with intent to hold or secretly confine someone, with a lesser penalty.

Sexual Offenses

First-degree rape involves sexual intercourse through force or threats involving a deadly weapon, kidnapping, serious physical injury, or unlawful entry into a building or vehicle. It also covers secretly drugging a victim to render them unable to consent. It is a class A felony.⁵

Second-degree rape covers intercourse by forcible compulsion without those aggravating factors, intercourse with a victim who is physically helpless or mentally incapacitated, or abuse of a position of authority over a developmentally disabled person, patient, or vulnerable adult. It is also a class A felony.⁶

Child molestation, indecent liberties, and sexual exploitation of minors are criminalized under separate statutes, with severe penalties and sex offender registration that in many cases lasts for life.

Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is not a standalone crime in Washington. It is a designation attached to other offenses when the parties are family members, household members, or intimate partners (current and former spouses, people who share a child, and people who have been in a dating relationship and lived together). The designation triggers mandatory arrest policies, firearm surrender requirements, and enhanced penalties for repeat offenses.

Property Crimes

Property offenses are graded primarily by dollar value, and knowing where the thresholds fall often decides whether a case is a misdemeanor or a felony.

Theft

First-degree theft covers property or services worth more than $5,000, property taken directly from someone’s person regardless of value, and certain specific items such as search-and-rescue dogs or firefighter equipment. It is a class B felony.⁷

Second-degree theft covers property or services valued between $750 and $5,000, as well as theft of public records or access devices. It is a class C felony.⁸ Third-degree theft covers anything valued at $750 or less and is a gross misdemeanor.⁹

Burglary and Robbery

Burglary is entering or remaining unlawfully in a building with intent to commit a crime inside. First-degree burglary requires that the intruder or an accomplice was armed with a deadly weapon or assaulted someone during entry, while inside, or in immediate flight. It is a class A felony.¹⁰ Second-degree burglary covers unlawful entry with criminal intent where those aggravating factors are absent and is a class B felony.

Robbery is theft combined with force or the threat of force, and it is always a felony. First-degree robbery involves being armed with a deadly weapon, displaying what appears to be a firearm, or inflicting bodily injury. All other robberies using force or fear are second degree.

Arson and Vandalism

First-degree arson means knowingly and maliciously starting a fire or explosion that endangers human life (including firefighters), damages a dwelling, occurs in a building occupied by someone not involved in the crime, or targets property worth $10,000 or more with intent to collect insurance. It is a class A felony.¹¹ Second-degree arson covers knowingly and maliciously damaging buildings, vehicles, watercraft, aircraft, bridges, crops, timber, fences, or other property through fire or explosion, and is a class B felony.¹²

Malicious mischief, the state’s vandalism statute, mirrors the theft thresholds. Damage over $5,000 is first degree (class B felony), damage between $750 and $5,000 is second degree (class C felony), and damage under $750 is third degree (gross misdemeanor).

Identity Theft

It is illegal to obtain, possess, use, or transfer another person’s identifying information or financial data with intent to commit any crime, whether the victim is living or dead. First-degree identity theft is a class B felony and applies when the stolen identity is used to obtain more than $1,500 in credit, money, goods, or services, or when the victim is a senior or vulnerable person. Second-degree identity theft covers everything else and is a class C felony. Prosecutors can combine a series of smaller transactions against the same victim into one count and add up the total to set the degree.¹³

Drug Laws, Cannabis, and DUI

Washington’s drug rules have shifted in recent years, and the current lines matter.

Controlled Substances

Possessing a controlled substance without a valid prescription is a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. With two or more prior convictions for the same offense after July 1, 2023, the maximum jail time rises to 364 days. The statute encourages prosecutors to divert these cases toward assessment and treatment, and encourages officers to offer referrals rather than book people into jail.¹⁴ Manufacturing or delivering controlled substances is a felony, with the specific class depending on the substance.

Cannabis

Recreational cannabis is legal for adults 21 and older, within set purchase and possession limits:

One ounce of usable cannabis (dried flower)
16 ounces of cannabis-infused solids (edibles)
72 ounces of cannabis-infused liquids (drinks)
Seven grams of cannabis concentrate

Everything must be bought from a state-licensed retailer.¹⁵ Possession within those limits is explicitly not a violation of state law.¹⁴ Public consumption remains illegal, and so is any purchase from an unlicensed source.

Cannabis is still a controlled substance under federal law. As of early 2026, the federal government has directed the Attorney General to complete the process of reclassifying marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. That reclassification would not override state law and would not amount to federal decriminalization.

DUI

It is illegal to drive with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher within two hours of driving, or with a THC concentration of 5.00 nanograms per milliliter or higher. You can also be charged if you are simply “under the influence of or affected by” alcohol, cannabis, or any drug, regardless of test results.¹⁶ Lower BAC thresholds apply to drivers under 21 and commercial drivers under separate statutes. Public consumption of alcohol is prohibited, and anyone under 21 who possesses or consumes alcohol faces a separate charge.

Weapons

Who Cannot Possess a Firearm

Washington’s firearm prohibition reaches well beyond convicted felons. It covers anyone convicted of a serious offense (a defined list of felonies), anyone convicted of certain domestic violence misdemeanors such as fourth-degree assault or stalking when committed against a family member or intimate partner, anyone subject to a qualifying protection or no-contact order, and anyone previously committed involuntarily for a mental health condition.¹⁷

The domestic violence misdemeanor list is broader than many people realize. Harassment, cyberstalking, animal cruelty in the second degree, and some DUI-related offenses all trigger the firearm bar when committed against a family or household member.¹⁷

Concealed Carry

Carrying a concealed pistol on your person, or having a loaded pistol in your vehicle, requires a Concealed Pistol License.¹⁸ A CPL will be denied to anyone ineligible to possess firearms, anyone under 21, anyone subject to a firearms-related court order, anyone with an outstanding felony or misdemeanor warrant, or anyone free on bond pending trial for a felony.¹⁹

Banned Weapons

Washington bans the manufacture, possession, sale, and transport of machine guns, bump-fire stocks, undetectable firearms, short-barreled shotguns, and short-barreled rifles, including parts designed exclusively to convert a weapon into one of those types.²⁰

A separate statute bans manufacturing, selling, or possessing slungshots, sand clubs, metal knuckles, and spring-blade knives. Furtively carrying a concealed dagger, dirk, pistol, or other dangerous weapon is a gross misdemeanor under the same statute. Firearm suppressors are illegal unless federally registered and possessed in compliance with federal law.²¹

Public Order and Online Conduct

Public-order offenses carry lighter penalties than crimes against people or property, but they still leave a criminal record.

Disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, covers four distinct behaviors: using abusive language that intentionally creates a risk of assault, intentionally disrupting a lawful assembly or meeting, intentionally blocking vehicle or pedestrian traffic, and intentionally fighting or making unreasonable noise within 500 feet of a funeral, burial, viewing, procession, or memorial when the person knows the conduct is disruptive.²²

Harassment requires a knowing threat made without legal authority, together with words or conduct that place the target in reasonable fear the threat will be carried out. The threats can involve bodily injury, property damage, physical confinement, or any act intended to substantially harm someone’s health or safety. Electronic communications count.²³

Intentionally exposing yourself in a way likely to cause alarm is a misdemeanor on a first offense, with an explicit exception for breastfeeding. It becomes a gross misdemeanor if the victim is under 14, and a class C felony with any prior conviction for indecent exposure or any sex offense.²⁴

Cyberstalking and cyber harassment are prosecuted at the state level and, when conduct crosses state lines or uses interstate communication networks, under federal stalking law as well.²⁵ A Washington conviction for cyberstalking or cyber harassment against a family or household member also triggers a firearm prohibition.¹⁷

Consequences That Outlast the Sentence

A Washington conviction can trigger consequences that reach well past jail time and fines: loss of firearm rights, sex offender registration, restrictions on professional licensing, immigration consequences for non-citizens, and difficulty finding housing or employment. These downstream effects are often more disruptive than the sentence itself, and they are worth weighing before deciding how to handle any criminal charge.

1
Washington State Legislature. RCW 9A.36.011 Assault in the First Degree
2
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 9A.36.021 – Assault in the Second Degree
3
Washington State Legislature. RCW 9A.32.030 Murder in the First Degree
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Washington State Legislature. RCW 9A.40.020 Kidnapping in the First Degree
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Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 9A.44.040 – Rape in the First Degree
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Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 9A.44.050 – Rape in the Second Degree
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Washington State Legislature. RCW 9A.56.030 Theft in the First Degree
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Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 9A.56.040 – Theft in the Second Degree
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Washington State Legislature. RCW 9A.56.050 Theft in the Third Degree
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Washington State Legislature. RCW 9A.52.020 Burglary in the First Degree
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Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 9A.48.020 – Arson in the First Degree
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Washington State Legislature. RCW 9A.48.030 Arson in the Second Degree
13
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 9.35.020 – Identity Theft
14
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 69.50.4013 – Possession of Controlled Substances
15
Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board. Using and Having Cannabis
16
Washington State Legislature. RCW 46.61.502 Driving Under the Influence
17
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 9.41.040 – Unlawful Possession of Firearms
18
Washington State Department of Licensing. Firearms Recordkeeping
19
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 9.41.070 – Concealed Pistol License
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Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 9.41.190 – Unlawful Firearms and Parts
21
Washington State Legislature. RCW 9.41.250 Dangerous Weapons – Penalty
22
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 9A.84.030 – Disorderly Conduct
23
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 9A.46.020 – Harassment
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Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 9A.88.010 – Indecent Exposure
25
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 2261A – Stalking