What to Do at Court for Drug Offenses


The possession, use, or sale of many different drugs is illegal, and many different drugs are well-known to be highly illegal to possess, use or sell in any fashion. While marijuana is experiencing increasing legality for recreational or medicinal use in some states, many other, harder drugs are completely illegal, and someone who is arrested for their possession, use or sale will face drug possession charges or similar drug offenses, and such a person will find themselves in drug court to answer for what they did. Legal services are available for those expecting drug court, and a drug possession lawyer is a legal representative who can support the case of someone facing drug court. Naturally, the exact outcome of the drug court case will vary widely based on the attorney’s level of skill, the judge’s personal take on the case, and other factors, but in general, those facing drug charges will have their attorney negotiate on their behalf to lessen the severity of the sentence given, such as fines, rehabilitation, or community service in place of jail or prison time. To find an attorney is to hire someone whose experience and skills with the law may help the offender get a more desirable outcome for a drug court appearance. Nothing is guaranteed, but legal help can often make a big difference.

Statistics of Drugs and Crime

Many Americans face legal trouble after getting arrested for possession of drugs, or for sexual misconduct, too. In fact, in the year 2016 in the United States, 1,186,810 arrests were made for drug law violations, and a considerable majority of those cases, 84.7%, were for possession of a controlled substance. Drug possession or use is not usually a violent crime, but the use, sale, or possession of these substances is still tightly monitored by authorities, and someone who has repeated convictions of drug law violations may face serious penalties after every arrest, while someone facing drug court for the first time may face a more lenient sentence such as rehabilitation or community service, especially if that offender has a criminal defense lawyer backing them up. Nothing here is guaranteed, but a first-time offender with a lawyer’s help will likely not face the same sentence as a repeat offender, especially one who does not have legal representation.

Regardless of the actual sentence, someone with a criminal record in the state of Ohio, for example, will generally find restrictions on their ability to perform legal actions such as finding paying work, housing, or making major purchases. Ohio residents with criminal records face what are called “collateral sanctions” according to that state’s laws, and these barriers restrict employment, housing, family involvement and other rights as privileges. Many of them impact the person’s ability to find pay9ing work, and the exact nature of them may vary based on the crimes that appear on that person’s criminal record.

Finding Legal Assistance

Someone who has been arrested for drug law violations and is facing charges at a future drug court date will probably want to find legal assistance, as navigating the law and getting a more desirable case outcome may be difficult to do alone, especially if the offender is a repeat offender (in general). Someone facing these charges can reach out to local criminal defense law firms, especially those that specialize in cases of drug law violations as opposed to those dedicated to drunk driving or sexual crimes. A potential client can get consultations from the attorneys who work at a firm (this may or may not incur a fee), and the client can look for a lawyer whose educational background, experience, success rate, and personality are to the client’s liking. If the attorney is hired, then the two of them can work as a team to build their case to try and get a milder sentence for the drug possession crime, or if they can manage it, get some or all of the charges dropped entirely. This may vary based on the lawyer’s skills and the nature of the charges, and outcomes will vary. As a whole, however, someone facing drug offense charges will almost certainly rather have a lawyer assisting them to navigate drug court law then attempt this alone and end up with a strict punishment.

Leave a Reply