Possession of illegal drugs and controlled substances can lead to criminal charges and severe penalties. The amount of drug at your disposal determines the severity of the crime and resulting punishment. Drugs are used for medicinal and recreational purposes, but careless or reckless usage may turn the practice into drug addiction and abuse. People who are involved in drug crimes are a stigma on the society and a hazard to our youth. Therefore, if you are found to be in possession of a prohibited drug, you will face harsh consequences.

A drug offense can be classified as a misdemeanor or felony, depending on the circumstances surrounding the crime. Drug possession is normally charged as a misdemeanor, unless it exists in very large amounts, thereby confirming your association to a mafia involved in drug trafficking. Conviction for drug possession leads a permanent criminal record, imprisonment, and hefty fines. If you are an immigrant, deportation is a possible outcome of drug possession charges.

Whether you have been wrongfully accused or consider yourself guilty of the crime, it is crucial to get a lawyer. Criminal Defense Attorney in White Plains, NY, can help you beat the charges by implementing one of the following defenses:

1. Medical Purpose or Addiction

The consumption of certain controlled substances or illicit drugs is permitted for medicinal use. Drugs derived from marijuana are prescribed to relieve pain and healing of other ailments, such as multiple sclerosis and sleep apnea; it is often prescribed to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy to cope with the side effects of radiation treatment. If you have a valid doctor’s prescription for the drug you possess, the charges shall be dismissed. Self-medication or using the drug at will to manage symptoms is not acceptable.

If you are a drug addict, and only use the drug for survival, law enforcement can help you escape this vicious cycle. You may get admission into a rehabilitation program to overcome the addiction rather than being incarcerated for committing the crime. You should not be held accountable if you were unknowingly lured into the addiction.

2. Unwitting Possession

At times, people are oblivious to the fact that the substance in their possession is an illegal drug. If this happens to you, your attorney can help you get out of the stressful and alarming situation. If a friend or family member entrusted the drug to you without revealing its true identity, you may consider yourself innocent in the matter. If the drug was sold to you disguised as something else, then again you are not the one at fault.

3. Mistaken Identity

The allegations for drug possession could be based upon a misunderstanding. For example, you may possess an item that looks just like an unlawful drug on first glance. Icing sugar and baking soda resemble powdered heroin and their packaging might be similar too. If the retrieved ‘drug’ is actually a harmless household substance, you may request law enforcement to run a test and confirm. You will be released after the real identity of the substance is disclosed in a chemical test conducted in a certified laboratory.

4. Set up or framed

Drugs found on you on or on your property may not necessarily belong to you. Someone may have planted them to put you in trouble, or make you the scapegoat to get themselves off the hook. Whatever the case, you must be able to name suspects, so that law enforcement can look into the affair. Consider people in your immediate social circle and those you interact with on a regular basis. One of the people who recently or frequently visited your home, anyone who drove in your car or someone who remains close to you could be the culprit.

5. Violation of Constitutional Rights

You cannot be charged for drug possession if the police had no reason to suspect and interrogate you. Search and seizure without warrant is not allowed; hence, any evidence collected in this manner can be suppressed and declared invalid. The defense of violation of constitutional rights can also be used if the cops deprived you of your Miranda right; this includes not reciting your rights at the time of arrest, refusing your request for a lawyer, and coercing you into giving a statement or confession.