Category Archives: Drug Crimes
The Three Ps of Marijuana Possession
Many people now consider marijuana use to be a personal health issue as opposed to a criminal law issue. Sadly, marijuana possession cases can still be vigorously prosecuted in Florida despite many jurisdictions adopting more relaxed attitudes towards enforcement. Frequently, marijuana possession prosecutions begin with traffic stops. Police pull over a carful of people,… Read More »
Defending and Resolving Marijuana Possession Cases in Hillsborough County
The political climate is changing with regard to marijuana. Medical marijuana is legal in Florida, and so is industrial hemp. The industrial hemp law, which took effect in July 2019, has a significant effect on marijuana criminal cases, as explained below. Despite these changing winds, Florida arguably has the harshest marijuana possession law in… Read More »
Three Types of Prescription Drug Crimes in Tampa
Prescription drug abuse statistics are grim. The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s people, but Americans make up 80 percent of the worldwide opioid marketplace. An average of 46 people a day die from prescription drug overdoses. That includes high-profile people like actors Heath Ledger and Anna Nicole Smith as… Read More »
Search Warrant Requirements In Florida Drug Trafficking Cases
Most federal drug trafficking prosecutions are huge cases which involve multiple law enforcement agencies. Given the size of the investment, law enforcement sometimes cuts corners to make an arrest. These shortcuts often come during the search warrant phase. The Fourth Amendment lays out some general requirements for search warrants. But the Founding Fathers left… Read More »
Some Defenses In Florida Drug Possession Cases
In the ongoing war on drugs, the number of arrests is about the only measuring rod of progress. So, there are lots of drug arrests every year. The FBI estimates that there were 1.5 million such arrests in 2016. Nearly all of them, about 85 percent, were for possession of a controlled substance. As… Read More »
Six Common Search Warrant Exceptions
Warrantless searches are involved in almost all drug possession, weapons possession, and other such cases, unless the arrest was a culmination of a months-long investigation. The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable warrantless searches. The concept of reasonableness and what it means to a given set of facts has been explored by the Courts for decades…. Read More »
Florida Doctor-Shopping Penalties
Doctor -shopping occurs when you obtain a prescription for drugs from one doctor, then visit another but fail to inform the new doctor that you have already received treatment from another healthcare provider. In Florida, doctor-shopping is a serious offense and, without professional defense counsel, you can lose your freedom. According to Florida Statute… Read More »
Federal Drug Trafficking Penalties Explained
Despite the fact that the war on drugs has cost the U.S. a substantial amount of resources and has yet to be proven successful, it continues to wage on. If you are arrested for any type of drug crime in Florida, seek immediate legal support. Depending on your criminal history, the type of crime… Read More »
How Marijuana Possession Affects Your Future
As a result of the rampant illegal drug trade of marijuana and cocaine in Miami during the 1970s and 1980s, drug laws in Florida became one of the strictest in the United States. The penalties and conviction for marijuana are not things you can afford to have on your record, because they affect future… Read More »
Obtaining a Prescription May Not Eliminate the Possibility of Facing Florida Drug Crime Charges
You may assume that only doctors can face criminal charges when they prescribe controlled substances without making sure they do not duplicate prescriptions from other medical providers. However, Florida has specific doctor shopping laws that hold patients accountable for this act — and those patients can potentially face felony charges. Doctor shopping is a… Read More »
Proposed Medical Marijuana Bill May Undergo a Florida Supreme Court Review
The medical cannabis bill proposed under HB1139 by Rep. Katie Edwards may have been rejected by the Health Quality Subcommittee on May 3, 2013, but it is not dead just yet. Proponents of the bill are now taking the first step toward getting medical marijuana on the 2014 ballot as a constitutional amendment. To… Read More »
State and Federal Drug Trafficking Crimes
Drug trafficking is, at its most basic, the possession of large quantities of narcotics, regardless of any specific intent to distribute. The penalties for drug trafficking crimes are disastrous. The potential sentences can lock you up for years, if not decades. In addition to long jail sentences — and in some extreme cases, life… Read More »
