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Maryland Client Advocates Since 1950

You should always fight drug possession charges

Here in Baltimore, drug charges are easy to come by and carry tough sentences. It goes without saying that at various points in our cities history, law enforcement has had a very complicated relationship with the community, and a great deal of that has to do with drug charges.

The reality of the matter is that you may find yourself facing drug charges for a variety of reasons, and whether or not they are justified, your entire life will change for the worse unless you take immediate action.

Drug convictions carry very heavy penalties compared to all other non-violent crimes, and once you have a drug conviction on your record, life simply gets much harder — and that’s in a best-case scenario.

In a worst-case scenario, you may find yourself behind bars with individuals convicted of serious violent crimes and lose years of your life.

Drug convictions affect your life in many ways, and none of them are helpful. Many employers simply refuse to look at resume’s if there is a drug conviction on an applicant’s personal record. Similarly, many rental properties refuse to rent to individuals with drug convictions on their records.

The harm doesn’t stop there. If you are a student, you may lose financial aid that makes it possible for you to attend school. You may also see increases in your insurance rates.

Across the board, politicians, communities and law enforcement create a system where people with drug convictions are at a disadvantage for many years, whether they were justly accused or not.

Clearly, it is always wise to fight drug convictions with professional guidance.

Yes, you can fight the charges

If people are telling you that you can’t fight the charges, they simply don’t know what they are talking about. A creative, experienced attorney can examine the details of your arrest and identify weaknesses the case against you.

Even if you believe that the evidence is airtight, or if you honestly made a foolish choice, you should use every tool at your disposal to fight the charges. Even if the charges themselves are justified, the punishment will almost certainly not fit the alleged crime.

An experienced attorney may use errors in the arrest procedure or aspects of the officer’s conduct to argue that he or she violated your rights or otherwise deviated from proper procedure.

In some cases, the evidence against you may either be circumstantial, inconclusive or inadmissible. All of these possibilities give you some room to fight.

Similarly, an attorney can push for laboratory testing of the evidence, which places the burden of proof further on the prosecution to both produce the evidence and also to demonstrate that it matches the charges. If there is some variation, this likewise gives you room to fight.

These are only some of the ways a skilled attorney can defend your future, but none of these can happen until you reach out for help.

This truly is a fight for your future

You must understand that every minute you spend waiting to begin your defense is a minute that the prosecution has to move ahead of you. Whether you actually committed a drug crime is irrelevant. You have the power to make wiser choices in the future if you are guilty, but if you do not fight the charges fiercely, you may lose many of your opportunities to make better future choices.

The guidance of an experienced attorney can help ensure that you do not suffer unfairly at the hands of a system that disproportionately punishes drug offenders. With a strong defense by an experienced criminal defense attorney, your rights remain secure throughout the process while you fight together for your future.

Source: Nov. 30, -0001

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