One of the major health crises in this country is the opioid epidemic. This situation has been getting a lot more press in recent months, but it has been going on for a long time now. Opioids are incredibly powerful — and addictive — substances that are often associated with medicinal care. Oftentimes, people innocently begin taking prescriotion opioids to treat some injury or pain condition, making the drugs easily available to people from all walks of life. This toxic combination has led to the opioid epidemic.

What it has also done is put a lot of focus on prescription drug charges. Many medicines can be abused and used in the same way as “traditional” drugs such as heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine.  With the opioid epidemic in the headlines, police and prosecutors are certainly paying attention to people who possess, use or traffic these substances, moving the drug trade from the street corner setting into the medical and pharmaceutical office setting.

Drug sale and possession crimes can come with harsh sentences, especially if someone is charged in federal court. Any drug crimes can have serious consequences, so it’s important to have an attorney with experience in understanding criminal prosecution and trying drug cases.

According to the New York Post, a Pennsylvania man who police suspected of drug dealing was hiding 110 small bags of heroin in his buttocks. Police say the 32-year-old man was arrested in Scranton after police conducted an undercover drug buy. They found the drugs he was hiding in his buttocks when they were searching him after the arrest.

Many people here in New York and the Northeast — and, really, all across the country — know about Annie Dookhan and the criminal justice scandal that took place as a result of her actions. Dookhan was a lab technician at a facility that tested drug evidence for criminal cases. But Dookhan had a sinister plot while she was performing her job: she didn’t test many pieces of evidence, instead passing on reports that she had while making it seem like the evidence was indeed tested.

In the end, Dookhan was caught and she was sentenced to jail. But the ramifications of her actions are still being felt to this day.

In our last post, the topic of discussion was drug charges and the many different types of crimes that the police and prosecution use to charge someone with a criminal offense. Continuing that discussion, today we’re going to talk about the scheduling system, a classification system for drugs that determines how severe the punishment is for an offender and also limits the ability for the substance to be researched for medical purposes.

When you hear or read stories about people who are accused of drug crimes, the story is usually filled with details that seem like an ad-libs. Every charge is “drug ______” with the blank space being filled in with a wide array of potential accusations. After reading the list of charges that are often involved in these stories, it is no surprise that some people can’t distinguish the charges from each other, since they all seem to blend in.

Have you been charged with a DWI? You might know others who have been arrested for drunk driving and are okay. Maybe you are worried, but aren’t too afraid of what a possible conviction would mean for you long-term. Do not underestimate the seriousness of this legal situation.

New York takes DWI cases seriously, and the state’s court of appeals just confirmed how seriously. The recent ruling allows for the permanent suspension of driving privileges among those considered to be “chronic DWI offenders.” For anyone classified as such, it takes the one, first DWI to get a criminal record of DWIs started. Defending against the first, therefore, is important.

On top of the criminal penalties, those charged with drunk driving face the embarrassment of their arrest becoming public fodder. The discovery by friends and family adds embarrassment to any possible fines, jail time and license suspension.

Following his DWI arrest on December 29 in Palmyra in update New York, Joseph Talbot did his best to prevent anyone from finding out. He fought fingerprinting and refused to be photographed for fear of his mugshot showing up in the local newspaper. His antics only added obstructing justice to the DUI charges against him.

Are you a teacher? How about a coach? What about somebody else who works in the education field?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you know you are looked up to by many people, including your students. For this reason, being charged with a crime, such as driving under the influence, can have a negative impact on your future.

As one of our New York readers, it goes without saying that you’re familiar with the way police are cracking down on people who are driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. For this reason, taking any risk would not be in your best interest.

As a resident of New York, you know that police are cracking down on driving under the influence. If you’re charged with this crime, it’s important to understand how it could impact your future. Not only will it have personal implications, but a conviction can also stop you from reaching your professional goals.

For example, a teacher or police officer has a lot to lose if they are found guilty of driving under the influence.

With all this in mind, you need to do one thing: Implement a DUI defense strategy that helps you avoid a conviction and the most serious punishment.

Drunk driving charges can lead to a wide range of penalties for the accused person. We wrote a post a few months ago about the financial factors involved in DUI cases, and that post gets at many of the myriad consequences that are involved when someone is accused of driving under the influence. And yet, it is still impossible to talk about these things without speaking in vague terms. Why is that?

Well, there are two reasons. The first is that there are so many different penalties that can be applied to someone who is convicted of a DUI that it can be difficult to say with certainty what an individual will face. This leads into the second reason, which is that all DUI cases are unique. There are so many different details and sets of circumstances that can be involved in any DUI case that it is nearly impossible to predict how (and which) consequences will affect you without doing a deep dive into the semantics of any given case.