Chestertown Drug Attorney, Near You

As a public defender, I’ve handled thousands of Possession of Controlled Dangerous Substances (C.D.S.) cases. This includes anything from civil citation marijuana all the way to possession of large amounts. We’ve done it all.

What sets us apart from other Chestertown drug attorneys is our experience and the amount of cases we’ve had. With extensive training defending these cases, we go through the analysis, the chain of custody forms and the police reports with a fine tooth comb.

If you’ve been charged with a drug offense and you agree that you need help, there are both inpatient and outpatient treatments available. We recommend Community Behavioral Health or Eastern Shore Psychological. For shorter term, inpatient treatment, we also recommend the Whittsitt Center, a 21-day program, sponsored by the Kent county health department. Regardless of your treatment facility, nine times out of 10, you will need to transition to an intensive outpatient treatment (IOP), when you leave an inpatient treatment facility.

If you have a significant drug addiction issue and are incarcerated, or will be once you go to court, there is a program under the health general article (HG 8-505 – HG 8-507), known as the drug treatment and commitment program. Rather than spending six months in jail, we can put an 8-505 requesting to have you evaluated and then an 8-507 order, to have you committed to a long term treatment facility, such as Gaudenzia. This will hopefully get the addiction under control and give you the tools you need to live freely and not relapse, or commit the same crimes over and over again.

Regarding drug offenses, more and more jurisdictions are implementing what’s known as drug court. This when you could possibly be subjected to criminal offenses and jail time, but the court will give you the opportunity to prove that you can remain sober. You’ll be required to follow the direction of the court, and prove that you can survive a probationary situation; where you’re going to treatment, you’re taking a urine tests, going to NA or AA classes, and doing everything you need to do. It’s like a diversion program, where at the end of it, you may be able to have your charges completely dismissed, depending on the jurisdiction. It takes a lot of work, but these are excellent programs with great success rates, sometimes allowing you to have your charges expunged. If you aren’t doing everything the way you’re supposed to, however, you can be subject to incarceration along the way.

Most Chestertown drug charges start out as a traffic offense. This could be for a number of reasons: the police officer believed the person operating the vehicle was under the influence, had a warrant for their arrest, or they shouldn’t have been driving for some reason. If the police officer says that he smells the odor of marijuana, it gives him probable cause to search the vehicle.

If you’re in a situation where you’ve been stopped or accosted by the police, unless you’re a repeat offender or well known to law enforcement, they will generally issue citations on the spot. Then, at some point, you’ll get notice of your court date.

Sometimes, they can take you in front of the commissioner to determine whether or not you need a bond. If you receive charges for CDS we recommend going for a substance abuse evaluation. This will tell you whether you have a substance abuse issue and how you should go about dealing with it. It will help determine if you need any inpatient or outpatient programs, a detox – things that will need to be dealt with before going to court. The court will want to see if you are taking a proactive approach to dealing with your addiction.

If you have a legitimate CDS addictions issue, oftentimes the courts will understand and want to see that you’ve made strides in dealing with that issue. In order to do that, you need to go have an evaluation and you need to start attending treatment. We always recommend Community Behavioral Health, a local organization, NA, or AA. This treatment can help you learn a lot about yourself and you can significantly help your legal situation.

In Maryland, we have a non-criminal offense, possession of marijuana. Anything under 10 grams is not going to be considered a criminal offense, although you will still face a fine. Since the offense is still a citation, it will remain on your record. Even though you’re not facing incarceration, it is advisable to hire an attorney to help you get a probation before judgment or possibly have it expunged somewhere down the road.

Possession of marijuana over 10 grams carries a maximum of 6 months in jail and/or a $1000.00 fine. Additionally, possession of a standard narcotic, such as opiates, opioids, hallucinogenic type drugs, LSD, psilocybin, methamphetamines, cocaine, or a derivative of cocaine will fall into that category, carrying one year of active incarceration as well as a $5000.00 fine. Additional incarceration is possible for repeat offenders.

Possession with intent to distribute carries various penalties. For marijuana, it’s a maximum 5 years incarceration as opposed to possession with the intent to distribute heroin (or other stronger types of narcotics), which could carry up to 20 years in jail. This also covers manufacturing narcotics, such as; growing marijuana and narcotics or someone working in or operating a meth lab.

There is a charge called possession of administrative equipment. This involves possession of needles, a pipe, rolling papers for marijuana, or anything that’s used to “administer” the narcotic into a person’s system. This charge is a paraphernalia charge that carries a significant amount of incarceration. People who are charged with this specific offense need to understand this is not the general paraphernalia charge and is much more serious.

The general paraphernalia charge is much broader than the Administrative Equipment charge and includes anything used to package or hold the CDS in addition to the needles, pipes, rolling papers, etc. The one good thing about a paraphernalia charge is that it is a fine. While it is a criminal offense, it doesn’t carry incarceration. However, repeat offenders may be exposed to periods of incarceration if the State chooses to file enhanced penalties.