Prescription Drugs

Prescription drug charges are always a priority for Alabama law enforcement. Prescription drugs affect a large range of different people. People can get addicted to prescription drugs when they have a very legitimate medical issue and go to a physician that over-prescribes pain medications.

There can be serious penalties for anyone convicted of a prescription drug offense. If you are facing charges, an Alabama prescription drug attorney is going to be necessary to a building a strong defense. An experienced drug lawyer can begin building your case as soon as possible.

A person can be arrested for having prescription drugs if they do not have the prescription on them. A lot of people going traveling may not want to take their pill bottle, or if they have to take the medication prescribed in a way that they have to take it during the day when they are away from their home, perhaps at work or on the road, they will put it in their pocket. Yet, the law requires them to carry it in the original prescription bottle, and it is a crime to transport. Even if a person has a legitimate prescription for when it is outside of their bottle, it does constitute an offense.

Even if an individual can show proof of prescription, that sometimes can still result in a charge for violating the law. But a lot of cases get dismissed if it is a first offense or people have legitimate scripts and there are no other aggravating factors. There is a misdemeanor offense that sometimes people will get charged with. It depends on where an individual is, what the surrounding circumstances are, who that individual’s Alabama prescription drug lawyer is, and what happened that caused the person to get arrested. All those things must be considered, but cases like that dismissed most often.

If someone was prescribed the drug at one point, but either do not require any more or have chosen not to continue using it for medical purposes, they can face charges. Law enforcement officers will look at the dates on the scripts. People should get rid of these past prescription drugs since they can be dangerous if someone else who is not prescribed gets them. They also lose their effectiveness after a certain period. If an individual does not complete a prescribed medication, that individual should get rid of it.

As to the crime, the prescribed drugs were prescribed for an individual, so the surrounding circumstances, like why the person had them in their possession at that particular time, have to be considered. If they have pain medication, say they hurt their back, and the script is a month old, the prosecutor is probably not going to look favorably on that. People need to know that they cannot do that, but they may not necessarily be prosecuted. A lot depends on the discretion of the individual’s prosecutor, how willing they are to listen to the person’s story, and to give it credibility.

An Alabama prescription drug lawyer that has a relationship with a prosecutor and has a history of dealing with a particular judge or a particular prosecutor on this type of case can prove most valuable. For prescription cases, they can show that judge or that prosecutor mitigating factors in a case. Knowing the types of information is important in helping to mitigate sentencing issues or disposition issues.

An accumulation of knowledge over a long time period can pay a real dividend for a client, because little things can make a difference in the outcome of a case. A lawyer that recognizes a problem when it is there is a key thing. Attorneys pride themselves on being very thorough. They spend a lot of time talking to clients, looking over the facts of the case, reviewing the discovery documents, and going out to the scene. A prescription drug attorney in Alabama will put a lot of effort into a defense in order to make the judge or prosecutor understand that the client is due the consideration of some mitigation.