Fatalities related to opioid use have turned into a crisis across the United States over the past few years. Opioids are a class of drugs naturally found in the opium poppy plant. They are highly potent pain relievers that, even when utilized accordingly, can cause substantial complications like overdose, addiction, or death.
Unfortunately, opioid effects have made many people turn to using them for leisure. This has made many people who have been using legally prescribed opioids turn to illegal means of acquiring more of the drug to feed their addictions and avoid withdrawal symptoms.
Even though the authorities need to move with speed in preventing opioid trafficking and illegal distribution from preventing addiction, it is equally factual that those already addicted or facing opioid criminal charges due to their addictions need counseling and professional care more than incarceration. If you are in this situation, a skilled drug crimes attorney may be able to help. They can use their resources and skills to obtain the necessary help for you.
Opioid Addiction
Over the past years, the U.S. has had an upsurge in deaths related to opioid use. Opioids are powerful pain relievers, but they have significant risks, such as overdose, accidental death, and addiction, even with careful and responsible use. Regrettably, opioid effects also render them the main target for recreational abuse; eventually, most people who fall victim to addiction to legal opioid drugs turn to unlawful means of obtaining more opioid drugs to feed their addiction and prevent withdrawal symptoms.
Whereas the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has implemented various strategies to curb this deadly tendency, the fact is that opioid drugs are highly addictive and dangerous. Most people in California have been subject to significant opioid-related problems, from opioid fatalities among their families and friends to opioid-related drug trafficking arrests and narcotics possession charges.
How a Lawyer Can Help With Opioid Addiction
A lawyer understands the seriousness of the continuing opioid epidemic and the devotion of public safety officials to removing illegal opioid drugs from the streets. Many people charged with drug possession and trafficking only became involved in unlawful activity due to desperation and the significant opioid addiction they have.
Whereas we understand how critical it is for police officers to crack down on unlawful opioid operations within the state, people found criminally liable for nonviolent drug offenses due to desperation and addiction need counseling and medical help more than fines and incarceration. When you hire a lawyer to fight for you, they will dedicate all their resources, effort, and skills to your criminal case and fight for you till the end.
Possible Consequences for Opioid Possession and Trafficking
Opioid possession and trafficking can cause a wide range of legal repercussions. The two primary factors that determine these consequences are typically the drug quantity and schedule of the narcotic involved. Per the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency), narcotics are scheduled depending on their medical validity and the possibility of abuse. Opioids fall under several drug schedules. Prescription opioid painkillers like methadone and oxycodone fall into the Schedule II category. Schedule II narcotics are legal to use and own with a legitimate prescription but have a high possibility for abuse and addiction. Heroin, a synthetic opioid, falls under the Schedule I category of drugs. It is a narcotic with zero accepted medical uses and a higher likelihood of abuse and addiction. The difference in consequences for narcotic possession or trafficking can vary significantly between Schedule II and Schedule I opioids.
Under California law, transporting regulated substances for unlawful sale or over county lines is criminal. Depending on the drug type and quantity involved, narcotics trafficking charges may result in substantial fines, many years of incarceration, and more penalties. State officials may also impose more penalties for unlawful drug trafficking acts conducted within particular proximity to playgrounds and schools.
Fighting Drug Possession and Trafficking Charges for Opioids
As far as defending against criminal charges for narcotics possession or trafficking involving opioids, options generally revolve around the circumstances surrounding the defendant and the precise substance involved. Cases that involve drug trafficking triggered only by an attempt to make cash typically carry harsher consequences than those perpetrated due to desperation.
For example, you will be subject to a greater charge if you trafficked many pounds of heroin or unlawfully produced fentanyl across county lines or within the state than if you were caught with many oxycodone pills and an expired prescription, mainly if you display explicit opioid dependency signs.
If accused of drug possession or trafficking involving opioids because of addiction, a skilled lawyer can prove to the district attorney that heavy fines and jail time will not assist you in recovering.
Prescription Drug Charges
Prescription drug addiction and abuse have, too, become a crisis in the U.S. Even though most states have emphasized addressing this problem through narcotics treatment programs instead of conventional criminal prosecution, criminal convictions that involve prescription medication under federal and California laws can subject a person to severe repercussions. If you have been accused of a prescription drug offense, you want to seek assistance from a skilled drug crimes lawyer. Working with one will increase your chances of preventing a conviction and undergoing the necessary treatment.
Common Prescription Drug Charges
Prevalent charges related to prescription drugs you can face in California include the following:
Using Prescription Drugs
HSC 11550 deems it a misdemeanor offense to be intoxicated with or use a regulated substance. That means that using prescription medications like hydrocodone, morphine, or codeine without a legitimate doctor's prescription or not utilizing them per the prescription can be grounds for charges under this law.
Prescription Drug Possession
California HSC 11350 criminalizes possessing any usable quantity of a drug. This includes illegal drugs like cocaine or heroin or prescription medications like Vicodin or oxycodone that are not legally prescribed. Prop. 47 downgrades particular drug possession crimes from felony to misdemeanor violations. Eligible defendants can face a maximum of 12 months in jail for misdemeanor charges. However, a defendant may avoid a jail term entirely if they qualify for and complete a narcotics-related diversion program. If you are not eligible under Prop. 47, you will be prosecuted and sentenced based on the drug quantity and past convictions.
Prescription Drug Possession Intending to Sell
HSC 11351 criminalizes possessing drugs for sale. Whereas it is allowed to possess legally prescribed medications, selling them is illegal. If you meant to sell narcotics unlawfully to someone else, you could be accused of possession intending to sell, irrespective of the drug quantity, even if a doctor had legally described the drugs. Possessing narcotics to sell is deemed a felony, and the consequences will be based on the quantity of the narcotic you had.
Transportation or Sale of Prescribed Drugs
HSC 11352 prohibits selling or transporting regulated substances. This law essentially applies to people involved in trafficking illegal drugs, but it does not need any form of large-scale operation for a conviction to occur. That means you can face charges if you are involved in unlawfully selling, administering, transporting, giving away, importing, or furnishing prescription drugs.
Transporting or selling a regulated substance is deemed a felony, and the consequences can be enhanced in cases that involve moving narcotics over counties. You could also be accused of a federal offense if caught transporting narcotics across state lines.
Prescription Drug Fraud
HSC 11173 criminalizes prescription fraud, otherwise called doctor shopping. You can be accused of this crime if you:
● Obtain or try to acquire a regulated prescription drug from a healthcare provider through deceit, fraud, concealment of material facts, or misrepresentation
● Making an untruthful statement in an order, report, record, or prescription
● Falsely represent yourself as a wholesaler, manufacturer, physician, pharmacist, veterinarian, dentist, physician’s assistant, or registered nurse to obtain a controlled prescription drug.
● Affix a forged or false label to a receptacle or package containing regulated prescription drugs.
At the district attorney's discretion, prescription drug fraud can be prosecuted as a felony or misdemeanor offense.
Under the Influence of a Prescription Drug
Under 23152 VC, it is unlawful to drive while intoxicated with alcohol or drugs. You might be deemed to be operating a vehicle while intoxicated if the alcohol or drugs have impaired your capability to drive a vehicle in a way an ordinary, cautious, and reasonable person would. That means the police can arrest you for DUID for operating an automobile while intoxicated with lawfully prescribed medications. Put otherwise, if the narcotic impaired your capability to operate the motor vehicle safely, then whether or not those narcotics were legally prescribed is irrelevant.
The criminal charges and consequences vary based on whether it is your first, second, or subsequent DUID crime. You might be subject to probation instead of jail for your first conviction. However, if your criminal record has several DUIDs or DUIs, you may be subject to a jail term and fines. You may also be subject to a driver's license suspension for a period between six months and three years, based on your criminal history. A DUID conviction can also subject you to collateral consequences, including limited housing options, inability to obtain or revocation of professional certification fixations and licenses, and ineligibility for financial aid for college.
Defending Against Prescription Drug Charges
Whereas the available legal defenses are based on the specific facts surrounding your case, some prevalent defenses include the following:
● Challenging the illegal gathering of evidence
● Arguing the entrapment defense
● Arguing that the arresting officer did not have probable cause to pull you over
● Police misconduct
● Asserting that the arresting officer did not have reasonable suspicion to arrest you
● Constitutional violations, like the police failing to read you your Miranda rights upon or after arrest
● Compromised test results
Fentanyl Laws
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid (approximately fifty or a hundred times more potent than morphine), generally used medically to manage pain. However, this narcotic also has a high potential for addiction and could be fatal when misused.
Recently, there has been an increase in deaths related to fentanyl in the United States, giving rise to the need for legislative action to fight its surge and save lives. Like other states, California enacted strict legislation to control the use and possession of this lethal opioid.
Because of the increasing concerns regarding its misuse and proliferation, these statutes are strictly enforced. Defense strategies when you are accused of a fentanyl-related crime can present challenges to all except the most experienced fentanyl drug offense lawyers.
The Law for Fentanyl Possession In California
Possessing fentanyl in California is regulated under the state's penal code because the drug falls under the Schedule II category. Consequently, HSC 11350 provides that possessing this narcotic is illegal unless you possess a lawful prescription by a qualified and licensed healthcare professional.
A healthcare professional can prescribe Fentanyl. It is mainly used to alleviate breakthrough pain in cancer patients. When a doctor prescribes it, fentanyl can be administered using a topical patch, as a tablet, or by injection.
Fentanyl can also be sold illegally in several forms, like sprays, powders, drops, and pills that appear similar to the prescription equivalents. Illegal fentanyl is commonly mixed with other drugs like ecstasy, meth, heroin, molly, and cocaine. When combined with these drugs, fentanyl increases their effects; hence, HSC 11350 criminalizes illegally possessing fentanyl.
Violating HSC 11350 can have serious consequences, including imprisonment and steep fines based on factors like the fentanyl amount you had and your criminal record. However, note that 11350 HSC covers only possession and is generally deemed a misdemeanor violation, while importation or transportation for sale are felonies and are prosecuted as such under California statute.
However, possessing fentanyl was previously deemed a wobbler offense, meaning the prosecution could charge it as a misdemeanor or felony. However, since the legislature passed Prop. 47, simple possession of fentanyl has been charged as a misdemeanor offense, of course, with various exceptions. The exceptions include anybody who has faced conviction for one or several severe or violent crimes before.
Examples of severe or violent crimes include sexually violent offenses (lewd acts or sexual relations with minors below 14 years old, murder offenses, incitement to commit murder, using a firearm on emergency responders or police officers, possessing weapons of mass destruction, and any felony offense carrying life imprisonment or capital punishment).
Punishment under Prop. 47 is retroactive, enabling people who have already been convicted of felony drug possession charges, like felony fentanyl possession, to pursue a reduction of their charges to misdemeanor ones. The benefits of Proposition 47 do not apply to actions that go beyond simple possession, such as the purchase or possession for sale of controlled substances and the illegal distribution, administration, giving away, or furnishing of a controlled substance.
California Fentanyl Laws
Over the last several years, California has taken multiple proactive measures to address the fentanyl epidemic, including passing various laws. These laws include the following:
● SB 19, which established an Anti-Fentanyl Abuse Task Force to collect and organize data on fentanyl abuse in the state and to monitor the effectiveness and progress of state-implemented measures for preventing fentanyl abuse and associated fatalities
● Assembly Bill (AB) 701, which amended HSC 11372 and 11370.4, introduced harsher sentences concerning possession for sale of fentanyl or substances that contain it.
● SB 250. This law is an extension of the state's Good Samaritan statute as a part of the overdose fatality prevention law (Assembly Bill 472). This law provides that it is not deemed an offense if a person has a narcotics overdose or assists a person who overdosed on a drug and then seeks medical assistance, even if that person has narcotics or narcotics-related items, provided they do not interfere with law enforcement or medical personnel.
● AB 1060, which is part of a broader attempt to fight the opioid overdose crisis and save lives, expanded access to naloxone, a drug utilized to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, fentanyl included.
● Melanie's Law (SB 10). This law protects high and middle school students in California from opioid overdose by implementing mandated school safety plans intended to raise awareness and educate both the staff and students about the dangerous effects of fentanyl
● Senate Bill (SB) 1109. This law provides a means to comprehend the extent of the epidemic better and facilitate targeted responses by necessitating coroners to report every case of death related to fentanyl to the California Department of Public Health
Find an Experienced Drug Crime Lawyer Near Me
You need a skilled legal counsel to develop a solid defense strategy for your case if you are facing fentanyl-related charges, prescription drug charges, or charges due to opioid addiction. We at the Los Angeles Criminal Lawyer are your ideal option. Our knowledgeable and assertive attorneys have an extensive track record of successfully handling drug-related charges, and they are ready to fight tirelessly to ensure you obtain the most favorable outcome for your case. Call us today at 310-502-1314 for a complimentary and confidential consultation and case evaluation or to request an appointment. We will ensure you have a team that will rigorously fight for your future and freedom.
