Top Drug Crime Lawyers Near Me

Selling, making, consuming or possessing a controlled substance is covered by both federal and state drug laws.

You can be charged for drug possession if you have an illegal drug or drug paraphernalia on you, whether it’s to keep or sell.
Drug dealers are charged when they sell drugs illegally or when they try to do so.

Drug manufacturing or cultivating charges mean you can be charged for making, processing or growing illegal substances. Having chemicals usually used for making drugs, regardless of whether the drug is present, may result in manufacturing charges. Taking any step in the process of making drugs can be a factor in the case.

It is a drug distribution or trafficking charge if you are caught delivering, transporting, importing or selling illegal drugs. Selling controlled substances across state lines is usually treated as trafficking, rather than dealing.

The severity of drug crimes determines part of a person’s penalty. In some cities, people may get a penalty for simple possession, while other cities consider the same actions to be misdemeanors or felonies. What kind of charges and penalties are imposed is affected by multiple factors.

Kind of controlled substance

How many drugs were used?

Getting mixed up in other criminal actions

How many are adults or children?

A person’s criminal background

The act sorts drugs into various schedules depending on how they might be used, misused or how helpful they are in medical treatment.

• Schedule I drugs are medicines thought to have no benefit for health but are prone to misuse. Schedule I drugs under federal law include ecstasy, LSD and cannabis.
• Schedule II drugs are those thought to have a high likelihood that people will abuse them, get harmed by them and develop dependencies. The Schedule II list includes methamphetamine, cocaine and many types of opioid pain medicines like oxycodone and fentanyl.
• Those considered to be at moderate to low risk for addiction and moderate risk for abuse are considered Schedule III drugs. Both anabolic steroids and ketamine have been placed in Schedule III.
• Schedule IV drugs are classed as those that have a little potential for abuse and addiction. We consider prescription benzodiazepines and sedatives such as Xanax, Valium and Ambien Schedule IV drugs.
• Drugs listed as Schedule V are thought to pose the least danger of misuse. Drugs you can buy without a prescription such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen, are included in Schedule V.

Persons convicted of a first offense of trafficking any amount of a schedule V substance may be sentenced to up to one year in prison and have to pay fines of up to $100,000. Yet, people convicted for the first time of trafficking certain quantities of schedule I and II drugs can be sentenced to 20 years in prison or more and fined up to $20 million.

A person with a drug offense criminal record can experience problems getting hired, selecting a place to live, receiving financial aid for school, being involved with their children or growing in their profession.

Prosecutors are required to show that every relevant aspect of the offense happened. A finding of guilty is improper for your drug possession case if your lawyer can cast doubt on one aspect of the crime. In most cases, an intentional offense is the main focus and the defense has to challenge these claims.

• If the police had a right to search and seize evidence
• How true witness testimony may be
• What drugs were used and how much of them were present
• How strong circumstantial evidence is
• Whether those charged meant to act illegally

If your attorney knows drug crime law, they can challenge any illegal searches to reject the evidence, leaving the prosecution with nothing strong to charge you with. It is common for a lawyer to seek a reduced charge for the client by stressing their client needs therapy or diversion assistance rather than imprisonment.

A lot of drug crime lawyers provide free consultations for defendants to help them decide what steps to take and what advice to follow.