How Is A Drug Charge Determined To Be Either A Misdemeanor Or A Felony?

We will exclude misdemeanors because except for 20 g of marijuana, there are no other misdemeanors for possession of a controlled substance. Control 1 substances, if you manufacture, deliver or possess with intent, they are first degree felonies. First degree felonies in Florida are punishable by up to thirty years in prison. If you possess a Control 1 substance in excess of 10 g, that is also a first degree felony. Control 2 substances, the most common would be cocaine. That will be a second degree felony, which is a fifteen year potential prison sentence. Just possession of a small amount of cocaine is a third degree felony, which is a five year felony. You have more than just say a small amount, the level of the felony goes up and when it hits a certain amount, then the trafficking mandatories come into play.

For example, for marijuana, if you have twenty-five to two hundred pounds of marijuana in your possession, you are subject to a three-year mandatory minimum sentence. For two thousand to fifty thousand pounds it is a seven-year mandatory minimum sentence and for more than ten thousand pounds it is fifteen years. For cocaine, between 28 g and 200 g is a three-year mandatory minimum. From 200 g to 400 g is a seven-year mandatory minimum and from 400 g to 150 kg is a fifteen year mandatory minimum. Now, because heroin has become much more popular because of its availability, there are trafficking amounts for that as well. This group also includes opium and morphine. Possession of 4 g to 14 g is a three-year mandatory minimum, from 14 g to 28 g is a fifteen year mandatory minimum and from 28 g to 30 kg is a twenty-five year mandatory minimum.

Many people have taken hydrocodone in the form of Vicodin or Lorcet, those are the brand names. Those are huge tablets. It does not take many of those tablets, twenty of them, to get you into a trafficking level of hydrocodone. Merely possessing a small vial, a small prescription vial if it is not yours, could put you into a mandatory minimum trafficking offense. Same thing with oxycodone tablets. Another drug that is still very popular is methamphetamine. More of that is being made in illegal labs but it is available as a prescription drug but 14 g to 28 g is a three-year mandatory minimum for methamphetamine, 28 g to 200 g is seven years and over 200 g is fifteen year mandatory.

When the police make a search and they find drugs and if the search is legal, they get to use the weight of the product in whatever form it is. In other words, where there might be just 10 mg of a drug in the tablet, the tablet might weigh 100 mg, but they get to take that full weight to count against the levels for these trafficking mandatories. Same thing with cocaine where because there is a purity issue in cocaine because it is manufactured illegally, depending upon whoever is making it, they can mix it or as they say, cut it, with some other substance. It can be cut way down making the product that is being sold very weak. You are not allowed to rely on the concentration. Whatever that amount of powder weighs is what is going to be used, not the actual amount of the cocaine that is put into that vat of powder.

How Serious Are Possession On Someone Else’s Prescription Charges?

Possessing someone else’s prescription is like just illegally possessing the drug. You do not have a right to it, so it would be the same thing as if you purchased it on the street from someone and you possessed it. Having it in a prescription bottle that is not yours is the same thing as just purchasing it from someone on the street. There is no distinction of just possessing it because you have got someone’s prescription bottle versus buying it from someone.

There are separate crimes for trying to procure a fraudulent prescription that would be in your name and be a defense but if it is proven that you procured it illegally, then it is a felony. If you go to a doctor and you falsely complain of pain to get an opiate and it is proven that you did that, then you are guilty of a felony. If you actually get a prescription blank and write your own false prescription for a controlled substance; that is a felony. There is not a lot of distinction in that and the only really serious or most serious consequences come with possessing a volume that hits these trafficking amounts.

For more information on Misdemeanor And Felony Drug Charges, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (561) 866-5717 today.