California Drug Possession Laws

If you are facing drug possession charges in California you may be up against serious prison time. California leads the nation in drug offense incarceration which means drug charges here are nothing to be taken lightly. Prosecutors can be extremely tough, so it makes sense to get advice from the best California drug possession defense lawyer you can find.

There may be a perfectly good explanation as to why you were caught with drugs. Perhaps, however, you made a mistake and now see that you were wrong. Maybe the drugs weren’t yours. If they belonged to someone else, you may not have even known they were in your possession, car, or home. Whatever the case, we are here to help. We want to hear about your case from you.

How Do California Drug Possession Laws Work?

The Federal government classifies drugs by “schedule”. This classification system is used to determine the seriousness of your offense and the potential sentence you may be facing. If a drug is considered more dangerous under California law, you will face harsher punishment for any offenses relating to it.

Schedule I drugs include those that are the most dangerous and have a high risk of addiction or dependency and no legitimate medical use. Drugs included under this heading include LSD, marijuana, heroin and mescaline.

Schedule II substances still have a high risk of abuse but may have legitimate medical uses. These include things like opium, cocaine, methadone, methamphetamines, and amphetamines.

Schedule III drugs are slightly less dangerous than Schedule II substances, but still have a moderate risk of abuse. Schedule III substances include anabolic steroids, testosterone, ketamine(special k), and some depressants.

Schedule IV drugs have a slight risk of dependency and have very acceptable medical uses. Some Schedule IV drugs are clonazepam, tranquilizers, and sedatives.

Schedule V substances have a very low risk of dependency and include things like Tylenol with Codeine.

What Drug Charges are Misdemeanors or Felonies in California?

Misdemeanor drug offenses include such things as possession of marijuana for personal use, being under the influence of a drug and paraphernalia charges.

Most drug charges in California are felonies. This means that if charged, you are facing prison time and a permanent felony mark on your record, forever changing your life.

There are several drug charges that we can defend you against. We have experience defending cases of:

• Drug Possession
• Possession to Sell / Intent to Sell
• Trafficking
• Distributing
• Cultivating

We have defended charges of all types of substances from marijuana to heroin and crack cocaine. We are concerned about your rights and your freedom. As your San Diego Drug attorney we will ensure you get the best possible result.

What Are the Penalties for Drug Possession in California?

Depending on your charge and the amount and type of drug you are caught with, you could be facing mandatory prison time. California has sentence enhancements that will add years onto your original sentence for things like: prior convictions, firearm possession at the time of arrest, and selling drugs to children under the age of 21.

Luckily, California also has several alternatives to incarceration for drug offenders. Whether or not you are eligible for some of these programs has a lot to do with your criminal record and the ability of your attorney to show the court that you are worthy of a second chance.

With our help you may be eligible for:

Proposition 36: One year of drug treatment. The level of your treatment (inpatient, halfway house, outpatient, etc) to be determined by an expert from the Department of Health.

Drug Court: One year program in which you participate in counseling, random drug testing, 12 step programs, and judicial reviews.

Deferred Entry of Judgment: In this diversion program, you plead guilty and go through 6 months of treatment. After remaining arrest-free for an additional 12 months, the case is dismissed.

Can We Fight the Charges and Win?

Yes, many drug cases can be beaten in court.

One of the most important aspects of a case involving drugs is how the evidence was seized by the police. Because the laws surrounding how searches and seizures are so complex, sometimes the prosecution’s case is destroyed by error in the evidence collection stage.

If some of your rights were violated in the arrest and the seizure of the drugs, we may be able to help you get the charges dropped altogether.

We can also take the case to trial and make the prosecution prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the drugs were yours. Even if they were in your house or in your car, we may be able to reasonably argue that they could have belonged to someone else.

There are other potential defense strategies we can use, but everything depends on a thorough examination of the facts in your specific case. And we will do that for you at no charge, as part of our free consultation.

Call us today to discuss the drug charges you are facing in California. We’ll help you work through what you are up against, and what you can do about it.

Call today, don’t wait. Many possible defenses won’t be available if you wait too long in the process. The sooner we can get on the case, the more help we can be, and the better your outcome.