Category Archives: Drug Offenses
Drug Possession Charges Are Much Worse When A Child Is Present
Drug possession with intent to sell is a much more serious charge than simple possession. When defendants get charged with possession with intent to sell, defense lawyers are sometimes able to arrange plea deals that reduce the charges to simple possession if the quantity of drugs found in the defendant’s residence or car was… Read More »
Will The Court Give You A Lighter Sentence Because Of Your Family Caregiving Obligations?
Artistic representations sometimes personify justice as a blindfolded woman, but when it comes to imposing sentences in criminal court, judges see the person, not just the crime. Some offenses have mandatory minimum sentences, but except for those requirements, judges have some leeway in determining the sentences of defendants who plead guilty or are convicted… Read More »
Federal Government Considers Removing Cannabis From Schedule I Controlled Substances Category
Controlled substances are drugs considered dangerous enough that the law subjects their sale and consumption to more restrictions than it does with ordinary consumer products. The Controlled Substances Act classifies controlled substances into five different categories, known as schedules. Schedules II through V are pharmaceutical drugs with approved medical uses, but which also have… Read More »
Newly Enacted Florida Law Categorizes Eight Synthetic Opioids As Schedule I Controlled Substances
The classification of drugs on the five schedules listed in the Controlled Substances Act has less to do with their chemical composition or its potency than with its accepted medical uses and its abuse potential. Schedule I controlled substances are widely abused but have no legally accepted uses in medicine. Schedule II controlled substances… Read More »
What Floridians Should Know About The Kratom Consumer Protection Act
Kratom, which is the common name for the leaves of the Mitragyna speciosa tree and products derived from them, has been at the center of legal controversies in recent years. M. speciosa is native to Southeast Asia and is a close relative of the Coffea genus of plants from which coffee is derived. In… Read More »
Kodak Black Avoids Prison After Positive Drug Test
Bill Kapri, a recording artist who performs under the stage name Kodak Black, has been a fixture of South Florida’s hip hop scene since he was in his teens. He has also had his share of legal troubles, only some of which have to do with drugs. In the summer of 2022, Kapri was… Read More »
Is Super Meth The Next Big Drug Epidemic?
Every so often, the media makes a big deal about a new addition to the drug supply. The media hype often comes with a heavy dose of stereotypes about the users of those drugs. All of those feature stories on the evening news about inner city crackheads, trailer park meth heads, and apathetic young… Read More »
New Study Supports Ketamine Therapy As A Treatment For Cocaine Use Disorder
If you are judging by the number of overdose deaths, fentanyl is the most dangerous drug out there. In fact, opioids have dominated the headlines about addiction, overdose, and drug-related crime in the United States for more than a decade. Many people who have suffered from opioid use disorder began their relationship with opioids… Read More »
Drug Enforcement Administration Classifies Delta-8 As A Controlled Substance
A few years ago, the green iguana was the most noteworthy ubiquitous green thing in the Sunshine State, but by now the iguanas have become such an ordinary part of the landscape that it is no more surprising to one than it is to see an American alligator or an ageless octogenarian. Like so… Read More »
Police Find Three Pounds Of Methamphetamine In Sarasota County Drug Bust
Drug busts happen for a reason. The police do not randomly burst into people’s houses in search of illegal drugs. The law does not allow them to do this. Pursuant to the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, law enforcement cannot search private property without a warrant. Therefore, before they have the right… Read More »
