The illegal drug trade is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of controlled drugs.  Most jurisdictions in the United States prohibit trade of controlled substances, except with certain special licenses, that are rarely issued.  Drug trafficking operates through various drug cartels that specialize in one of several separate processes along a supply chain that is often localized to maximize production efficiency and minimize damages caused by encounters with law enforcement. Per the profitability of each layer of the cartel, the size, consistency, and organization of each link in the chain vary.  The chain moves from low-level street dealers, who may be drug users themselves, through street gangs and deal-making middle men, up to multinational empires.

Certain links in the trafficking chain grow illegal drugs in wilderness areas, on farms, produce crops in indoor and outdoor residential gardens and are located anywhere these products can be grown.  The common characteristic of these locations is that they are discreet so as to avoid detection and are usually located in ordinary setting that will not raise suspicion of neighbors or the public.  A great deal of illegal drug cultivation and manufacture takes place in developing nations, although some production does occur in developed countries.

The majority of illegal drugs available in the United States are supplied by multiple foreign and domestic based drug trafficking organizations.  Mexican groups, however, are the most influential drug traffickers to the United States and are expected to remain so for some time to come.  Other traffickers who smuggle illegal drugs into the United States include Colombian, Dominican, Asian, Russian-Israeli, and Jamaican drug trafficking organizations and criminal groups.

Mexican drug traffickers are particularly influential in the transporting of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamines for distribution in the United States.  Street gangs and prison gangs have established relationships with Mexican drug trafficking organizations which have enabled them to evolve from primarily retail distributors of illegal drugs into smugglers, transporters, and wholesale distributors of them.  These street and prison gangs are most notably active in rural and suburban areas of the United States.  Some of these street gangs are highly organized, with as many as 100,000 members.

Drug trafficking is heavy worldwide, according to the 2008 National Drug Threat Assessment, and even though many countries have drug trafficking penalties that include the death penalty, drug trafficking continues to prosper.  The United States Customs Service, an agency of the U.S. Treasury Department, is the primary enforcement agency that is designated to protect the United States’ borders from various threats.  It is the only border agency with an extensive air, land, and marine interdiction force with an investigative component supported by its own intelligence branch, making The United States Customs Service a major player in the United States’ war on drugs.

Federal drug trafficking laws are stringent.  Drug trafficking and possession offenders are subject to mandatory minimum sentencing requirements, which means if a person is convicted of a drug trafficking offense, they will be automatically given a predetermined incarceration sentence and fine.  These penalties and fines vary from one year to life and from $1,000 to $250,000, depending upon the type of drug being transported, the quantity transported, and the criminal record of the defendant, among other considerations.

Defenses for drugs trafficking charges usually revolve around the challenge of whether or not the drugs belonged to the defendant, or if the defendant was knowingly involved in the trafficking aspect of the drug transporting activity.  If a defendant was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time, or was only involved in buying a small amount of an illegal drug, then the charges are sometimes reduced to a simple drug possession charge.  As with other drug charges, defenses for drug trafficking include challenges to search and seizure procedures by arresting law enforcement as protected under the 4th amendment to the Constitution.  If violations of the defendant’s Constitutional rights are proven, then the drug trafficking charge must be withdrawn.

Possession of marijuana (sometimes referred to as simple possession) is the most common drug crime in the United States. Considered a misdemeanor in a majority of states, marijuana possession penalties include fines, probation, and/or community service. Criminal possession of marijuana is the next level up in marijuana possession crimes and consists of possession of marijuana in a public place where it is either burning or in open public view in quantities of more than 2 ounces but less 8 ounces. Criminal possession of marijuana is also a misdemeanor but the consequences increase as does the possibility of jail time.

Technically, under federal drug law, the possession of marijuana, in any amount, is punishable by up to one year in jail and a minimum fine of $1,000 for a first conviction. Further convictions and greater amounts result in much stiffer penalties. Relatively few marijuana possession cases give rise to a felony level crime. Marijuana distribution, however, is always a felony under federal law. The sale of less than 50 kilograms of marijuana (the smallest amount category) is punishable by five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Marijuana production’s principal source is Mexico. The majority of foreign-produced marijuana available in the United States is smuggled into the country from Mexico over the Mexico border by criminal groups. Mexican criminal groups control most wholesale marijuana distribution in the United States, with Asian criminal groups that bring in the product over the Canadian border running a close second. The potency of Canadian marijuana being considered superior to the Mexican version has resulted in an increase in Asian control of marijuana production and distribution. According to the National Drug Threat Assessment 2007, high potency Canada-based smuggling, distribution and production groups are increasing, giving rise to large-scale cannabis cultivation in large outdoor sites by both Mexican and Asian groups. In addition, in an effort to remain competitive in the higher potency marijuana distribution trade, Asian groups have begun operating indoor grow sites in homes throughout the Pacific Northwest and California. The trend is to purchase or rent a house, modify the house for the purpose of producing two to four crops of cannabis and abandoning the property once the crops are harvested.

Marijuana is typically consumed in its organic state, the plant itself used in various ways to produce a hallucinogenic effect on the user. Abuse and use of the cannabis plant as a means for getting high dates back to biblical times. The advent of laws criminalizing the use of the drug occurred sometime during the twentieth century, with battles to legalize the use of marijuana debated ever since, its use among Native Americans in religious ceremonies and the use of the drug by cancer patients to relieve nausea being the most often arguments used for its legalization, and a significant change in the marijuana possession laws.

Challenges to current marijuana production and distribution laws are ongoing, with several states decriminalizing certain marijuana usage for specific medical conditions. However, in United States v. Oakland Cannabis Club, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that marijuana has no medical value as determined by Congress. The court’s opinion stated that: “In the case of the Controlled Substances Act, the statue reflects a determination that marijuana has no medical benefits worthy of an exception outside the confines of government-approved research projects.”

In 2002, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a ruling that upheld the Drug Enforcement Act’s determination that marijuana should remain a Schedule I controlled substance, the most restrictive schedule under the Controlled Substance Act. The marijuana debate and court battles will undoubtedly continue to occasionally appear in the United States Court system for years to come.

Defenses for those guilty of breaking marijuana possession laws, and distribution of marijuana laws, usually revolve around the misuse of police power to search and seize property. Unlawful search and seizure, unlawful surveillance, and entrapment are the primary means of defending a charge of marijuana possession or marijuana distribution.

What is heroin?

Heroin Abuse
Heroin abuse is associated with serious health conditions, including fatal overdose, spontaneous abortion, and—particularly in users who inject the drug—infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.  Chronic users may develop collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, and liver or kidney disease.  Chronic use of heroin leads to physical dependence, a state in which the body has adapted to the presence of the drug.  If a dependent user reduces or stops use of the drug abruptly, they may experience severe symptoms of withdrawal.

Heroin Production
Heroin production occurs in three primary regions: Afghanistan, Myanmar, and Colombia/Mexico.  The Colombia/Mexico producers supply the majority of heroin that makes its way into the United States.  The drug is readily available in most large metropolitan areas as well as many suburban and rural markets throughout the United States, with most heroin finding its way into the country by commercial air or overland.

Heroin and the Law
Heroin is classified as a Schedule I illicit substance with no medical utility under the Controlled Substance Act. As a Schedule I drug, heroin possession and/or distribution crimes have severe penalties attached to conviction of these offenses.  Typical penalties for heroin, as with all Schedule I drugs under the United States federal system include: (1) First time possession: one year in prison and a $5,000 fine; (2) Second time possession: two years in prison and a $10,000 fine; (3) First time distribution: maximum fifteen years in prison and a $25,000 fine; and (4) Second time distribution: thirty years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

Possession of heroin includes both actual possession, resulting from the drug being present in a person’s physical possession and constructive possession, resulting from a person having control over an area where heroin has been found but where the person may not be in direct physical proximity with the heroin.  An example of constructive possession is if you are the owner/inhabitant of a house where heroin or evidence of heroin is found while you are away from the premises, by virtue of the fact that you live in the house and have control and dominion over the property, you can be charged with possession of heroin.

Distribution of heroin and intent to distribute heroin are both treated similarly in their prosecution.  To possess or buy heroin intended for sell to another is a felony.  The prosecution doesn’t have to prove that a sell actually took place or that money changed hands—they just have to prove that there was an intention to sell the heroin.

Intent to sell heroin can be proven by evidence such as drug packaging (small bundles), weighing scales, cutting agents, people coming to/going from a home at all hours, fortified windows, conversations with police informants, undercover officers, or wiretapped telephone (cell, portable or landline) conversations so long as that evidence is obtained in a legal fashion.

Defending Heroin Possession Charges
Defenses to a heroin possession or heroin distribution charge include evidence that the person accused of the crime did not know what the heroin was and/or did not know that it was an illegal substance or some error made by law enforcement during the arrest, including such acts as illegal search and seizure, illegal surveillance, and entrapment.  Any abuse of the Constitutional rights of the accused may be called into question at a trial as a defense for possession or distribution of heroin.

Most penalties for any federal conviction are generally harsher and less flexible than state penalties.  In the case of drug crimes, federal penalties are much more severe than state penalties with the most severe penalties involving Schedule I and Schedule II drug convictions. The majority of drug felonies and almost all drug misdemeanors in the United States are prosecuted at the state level. However, the federal government tends to prosecute drug trafficking cases involving large amounts of drugs, or cases, which have been referred to federal prosecutors by local district attorneys seeking harsher sentences under the federal sentencing guidelines.  In rare instances, some defendants are prosecuted both federally and by the state for the same drug trafficking offense. The United States Supreme Court has ruled that a defendant does not face double jeopardy if he is convicted of certain drug offenses and can be charged in both state and federal courts for the same act using all the prosecution powers of the two entities.

Federal drug charges encompass the possession, distribution, sale, trafficking, cultivation, and manufacturing of various controlled substances. These drugs include marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, a number of narcotic-based drugs and more.  In addition, the Drug Controlled Substances Act includes the crimes of conspiracy to promote and facilitate the manufacture drugs, distribution or importation of illicit drugs, investing illicit drug profits in businesses affecting interstate commerce, and unauthorized importation of controlled substances law and regulations into its repertoire of drug offenses.  The Drug Enforcement Administration is charged with the enforcement of federal controlled substances laws and regulations, and as a result, oftentimes, drug crimes at the federal level will include violations of tax law, such as tax evasion and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

Under federal law, possession of marijuana in any amount is punishable by up to one year in jail and a minimum fine of $1,000 for a first conviction.  Further convictions and greater amounts of marijuana result in much stiffer penalties.  For instance, the sale of less than 50 kilograms of marijuana (the smallest amount category) is a felony under federal law, punishable by five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Federal penalties for possession of cocaine and heroin are more severe than those for marijuana and the penalties for the sale or distribution of these drugs may include a life sentence.  Several factors are considered when an individual is charged with a drug crime such as possession and/or distribution of heroin or cocaine.  These factors include the quantity of the drug involved (the greater the quantity, the more likelihood that distribution will be imputed to the defendant), the prior criminal history of the defendant, the use or possession of weapons by the defendant, and whether minors were involved in the transaction.

Transporting controlled substances over a state line or over a country’s border is considered a federal drug trafficking crime, a federal crime with especially severe penalties attached to it. Almost all drug crimes that are tried at the federal level involve some form of drug trafficking, making the death penalty a possible federal punishment for those involved in organized illegal drug ventures.

Many federal drug crime convictions have mandatory sentences.  Judges does not have any discretion to give lighter sentences, regardless of the extenuating circumstances surrounding the crime.  Also, the federal system provides only limited opportunities for probation following a conviction on a drug crime, and there is no parole in the federal justice system.

Defenses for federal drug charges include the questioning of the admissibility and sufficiency of the government’s evidence, the accuracy of drug test results, and the legality of the search and seizure performed for a particular case.  Most attorneys defending a federal drug crime will attack law enforcement official’s procedural techniques and the possibility that those officials violated the defendant’s Constitutional rights.

Anabolic steroids are a synthetically produced variant of the naturally occurring male hormone testosterone.  These drugs are used to promote masculine characteristics, build tissue, and increase muscle mass.  Anabolic steroids are used medically for various conditions but are most widely known for their illegal use by bodybuilders, sportsmen and women.  They have numerous deleterious side effects and are classified as a controlled substance in most countries.

Anabolic steroid use has been banned by most sports regulating authorities.  Most of these authorities regularly check athletes for steroid use through blood and urine samples and test for their presence with gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy.  Legal anabolic steroids can be acquired by prescription for the treatment of diseases such as anemia, breast cancer, and post-surgical muscle wasting.  Until recently, the use of anabolic steroids, other than their legal usage, was by athletes and body builders.  Recently, there seems to be a significant increase in the number of young people taking the drug (some as young as 15) to build their upper bodies as a means of impressing friends.

Users of anabolic steroids sometimes use the drug for its induced feelings of strength, aggression and confidence.  Law enforcers are concerned that the increased aggression associated with steroids use may account for the increase in the number of young people committing violent crimes.  Children and teenagers who take anabolic steroids regularly increase their risk for adverse skeletal growth, and adults who take them may suffer psychological effects and heart disorders.

Anabolic steroids can be taken orally, injected intramuscularly, or rubbed on the skin.  They are most often used in cyclic patterns and involve taking multiple doses of the drug over a specific period of time, stopping for a period, and starting again. Most users combine several different types of steroids in hopes of producing larger muscle size than the use of just one type of steroid would produce.

The legality of anabolic steroids varies from country to country.  In the United States, anabolic steroids are listed as a Schedule III controlled substance, making the first offense of simple possession without a valid prescription a federal crime, punishable with up to one year of prison time and a minimum $1,000 fine.  If convicted of distribution or intent to distribute anabolic steroids, a defendant may find the penalty to be more severe with up to five years in prison with a possible increase of up to ten years. Trafficking of anabolic steroids is punishable by five years in prison and a fine of $250,000, even if the conviction is the individual’s first felony drug offense. With a second felony anabolic steroid trafficking offense, the maximum period of imprisonment and the maximum fine both double.

Legal anabolic steroids are frequently produced in pharmaceutical laboratories, however in locations where strict laws exist, they are also produced in small homemade laboratories. These laboratories are created in kitchen sinks, usually from raw substances that have been imported from abroad.  In countries where homemade laboratories are located, the steroids are obtained through black market trade, must be smuggled across international borders for sale, and are many times associated with organized crime. Highly organized black marketers handle up to $400 million worth of the drugs a year.

Until recently most underground steroids were legitimately manufactured pharmaceuticals that were diverted to the black market through theft and fraudulent prescriptions.  More effective law enforcement coupled with greater demand forced black marketers to seek new resources for distribution of their illegal products.  Consequently, sales are now made in gyms, health clubs, on campuses, and through the mail.  Suppliers may be drug dealers or they may be trainers, physicians, pharmacists, or friends.

Defenses
Defenses for possession, distribution, or trafficking of anabolic steroids include the affirmative defense of entrapment, illegal/unreasonable search and seizure by police, lack of custodial interrogation rights of the police and lack of probable cause.

Drug offenses include purchase, possession, manufacturing, delivering, distributing, dispensing, administering,  and selling (or possessing with intent to distribute). Drug offenses are determined by the Uniform Controlled Substances Act which controls the distribution, classification, sale, and use of drugs. According to law, drugs are categorized into two distinct categories (1) drugs and (2) narcotics. Drugs are substances for use in or on the body for diagnosis, cure, treatment, and/or prevention of disease. These are regulated by the Federal Drug Administration and include such things as herbs, tonics, laxatives, weight reduction aids, and even blood. Narcotics, on the other hand, are substances defined by statue; narcotics are substances that either stimulate or dull an individual’s senses. Usually narcotics are considered to be addictive. Legal narcotics are regulated by the Federal Drug Administration and are available only with a valid physician’s prescription. Illegal narcotics (controlled substances), however, are banned by statute.

The authority to regulate the use of drugs is most often found within federal government jurisdictions due to the federal government’s power to regulate interstate commerce. States can and do regulate drug use, but the laws that states establish must be consistent with federal law. Most states choose to adopt federal standards for their drug legislation to avoid unnecessary litigation and as a means of using federal government resources to bring major drug offenders to justice.

The federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970, 21 U.S.C.A § 811 et seq., extended in 1972 by the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, was enacted to promote uniformity among state and federal laws. As a result, most states conform to federal drug acts. The Continuing Criminal Enterprise (CCE) Statute (also known as the Drug Kingpin Act), 21 U.S.C.A. § 848 targets those who have a managing or organizing role in large illegal drug organizations. Some drug offenses are strict liability crimes, while other drug offenses require general intent.

The two main objectives of current drug law is to regulate the manufacture, sale, and use of legal drugs such as aspirin, sleeping pills, and antidepressants, and to prohibit and punish the manufacture, possession, and sale of illegal drugs such as marijuana, heroin and dangerous legal drugs.

As a means of controlling the use of dangerous drugs, federal law and most state statues use the classification system outlined by the Uniform Controlled Substances Act. The system categorizes both illegal and dangerous legal drugs and groups them into five schedules, organized according to each drug’s potential for medical use, harm or abuse. In addition, this system imposes a series of controls and penalties for the misuse of these controls for each individual schedule. For example heroin, hallucinogens, and marijuana are considered Schedule I drugs because of their high potential for harm with no medical use. Opiates and cocaine are Schedule II drugs, most depressants and stimulates are Schedule III drugs, mild tranquilizers are Schedule IV drugs, and cough syrup mixtures containing some codeine that are considered medically useful and less dangerous are Schedule V drugs.

Drug crime penalties are established depending on the severity of the crime. Possession of a controlled substance is the simplest drug offense, with possession with intent to sell being a more serious offense. Selling and trafficking drug offenses incur the greatest penalties. The precise penalty for a particular drug offense depends on many factors. These include the type of drug involved, the amount of that drug involved, and the criminal record of the convicted party. Drug conviction penalties range from small monetary fines to life imprisonment and the death penalty. In 1994, the crime bill imposed the death penalty for major drug trafficking per Pub. L. No. 103-322, 108 Stat. 1796.

Defenses
Defenses for drug charges usually involve some legal error on the part of law enforcement. Sometimes police act illegally by operating without warrants and with disregard for a person’s constitutional rights, resulting in a successful defense of illegal search and seizure which can get a case thrown out of court. Other successful drug defenses include entrapment and the performance of illegal surveillance in violation of a person’s right to privacy.

Transporting of controlled substances over a state line or a country’s border is a federal crime with severe penalties that may include the death penalty for drug “kingpins.” Drug distribution/trafficking laws can implicate a single individual or a broad ring of people involved in the crime. Thus, drug distribution/transportation crimes may fall into a category of crime viewed as an organized illegal activity which can add even more charges to a defendant’s crime and increase the penalties if convicted.

Distribution is the delivery of a controlled substance other than for the administering or dispensing of it. A person is generally guilty of distribution when he transfers a controlled substance to another person. The transfer can be actual, constructive, or attempted. The transfer is actual when a person physically transfers the controlled substance to another; it is constructive, when the government can prove that a person intends to sell or distribute an illegal substance through their actions or when the quantity of drugs in their possession is substantial; it is attempted when the person attempts to transfer the controlled substance to another, but is otherwise prevented from doing so. Anyone who intentionally participates in bringing about a drug transaction, even if only as a translator, is considered to be a deliverer of a controlled substance, State v. Ramirez (Wash. App. 1991).

Delivery of a drug is the actual or attempted transfer of a drug from one person to another. Delivery and distribution are treated as separate violations under the Controlled Substance Act. Money does not have to change hands for someone to be arrested for the selling of drugs. For instance, you may be found guilty of delivering a controlled substance even when others perform the physical act of delivery and you do not receive any money for the transaction. In one Georgia case, a defendant was present while another person delivered and sold cocaine to anundercover agent. Evidence that the defendant brought a mirror to the transaction in order to help measure the cocaine was all that was necessary for a charge of delivery and sale of drugs. Even though the defendant told police that she received a mere one-half gram of cocaine in exchange for her help with the drug sale, she was convicted for illegal delivery and sale, State v. Luster, 204 Ga. App. 741, 397 S.E.2d 28 (1990).

Dispensing of drugs for medical purposes is allowed under very specific regulations. However should a physician dispense drugs outside the scope of his medical practice, he can be convicted of drug crimes, as in U.S. v. Singh, (4th Cir. 1995), in which a doctor exchanged drugs for sexual favors with patients addicted to prescription drugs.

Transportation and distribution of drugs are much more serious crimes than is the crime of drug possession; and these crimes result in the possibility of severe consequences. Anyone facing drug charges for drug importation, drug transportation, or drug distribution and sale (excluding small amounts of marijuana) are typically charged with a felony. A drug transportation/distribution charge can lead to one or more years in a state prison and a permanent criminal record. Vehicles, homes and other possessions tied into a drug transaction may also have to be forfeited.

The sale of drugs is always a felony charge. A sale of less than 40 kilograms of marijuana is a felony under federal law, and is punishable by five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The penalty for the sale of “harder” drugs, cocaine and heroin, can include a life sentence. Sentences and fines are usually based on the quantity of the sale, the prior criminal history of the defendant, the presence of weapons on the defendant during the transaction, and whether minors were involved in the transaction or not.

Mere possession of a controlled substance does not demonstrate specific intent to distribute or sell the drug. Intent cannot be proven by use of direct evidence (evidence based on a witness’s firsthand knowledge) or circumstantial evidence (evidence based on inference); a distributor must know that he/she is in possession of a drug meant for distribution.

Defenses for Distribution/Transportation
Defenses for drug distribution/transportation charges usually involve the violation of the Constitutional rights of the person charged. Due process requires that every element of the crime be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, a high standard when trying to prove the elements in a distribution/transportation crime. In addition, the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures. The unreasonableness depends on the facts and circumstances of each case. Other proven successful defenses for distribution/transportation charges include entrapment and illegal surveillance, both of which a person is constitutionally protected against under certain circumstances.

Drug cultivation and manufacturing laws make it a crime to (1) grow, produce, and possess certain plants and other naturally occurring elements used in the production of unlawful controlled substances, such as cannabis seeds and marijuana plants; or (2) to produce illegal controlled substances like methamphetamine, Ecstasy, LSD, and cocaine, which require use of certain chemicals and various laboratory equipment to produce. For instance, if police conducted a legal search of your home and found cannabis seeds, high-powered lamps, and remnants of marijuana plants, you could be charged with violation of drug cultivation and manufacturing laws. Laws for drug cultivation vary according to the type of drug produced and the amount of the drug produced.

Although state laws vary, a person is generally guilty of drug manufacture when they produce an illegal substance by means of a chemical synthesis or a natural extraction process. The manufacturing of drugs can also include the packaging or repacking of the substance or the labeling and re-labeling of its container.

Marijuana cultivation as well as the possession of the chemicals necessary to manufacture illegal drugs is a felony. However, several states have passed statutes that allow patients to grow, possess, and use marijuana for medical purposes if they have the documented approval of a physician. Some even allow registered care givers to grow the plants and distribute them, but not use the drug themselves. Amounts are generally restricted to ounces of useable marijuana, a specific number of plants, or a supply for a certain number of days. In U.S. v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative (2001), the Supreme Court ruled that there is no medical necessity exception to the federal ban on marijuana, yet a ruling in Raich v. Ashcroft (9th Cir. 2003), granted an injunction in California against federal prosecution for possession and use of marijuana that has not been sold or transported across state lines and is used for medicinal purposes. This case has been appealed to the Supreme Court, and time will tell where these rulings will end.

In addition, some states allow limited exceptions to the manufacture and distribution of peyote for use in bona fide religious ceremonies of the Native American Church. As with the marijuana rulings, cases for peyote manufacturing and cultivation are the subject of many court battles.

While marijuana production is probably the most common and easiest drug to manufacture, manufacture of methamphetamines has become a major concern in the “war on drugs.” In 1983, the criminal justice system passed laws prohibiting possession of equipment that could serve as a precursor for methamphetamine production, and in 1986, passed the Federal Controlled Substance Analogue Enforcement Act in an effort to slow the use of designer drugs. Despite these precautions, methamphetamine use expanded throughout the rural U.S. with clandestine laboratories resorting to the use of unorthodox and unclean equipment for methamphetamine production such as mason jars and plastic kitchen containers. As a result, since 1989, five federal laws and numerous state laws have been imposed in an attempt to curb the production of methamphetamines.

Unfortunately, methamphetamine can be quite easily produced in home laboratories using pseudoephedrine or ephedrine, active ingredients in many cold and sinus over-the-counter drugs. Most states have placed addition restrictions on the sale of these precursor chemicals, making them more difficult for the average methamphetamine manufacturer to obtain. Much to the dismay of many consumers, pseudoephedrine, a common over-the-counter decongestant, now requires a purchaser to provide identification and various other information before being permitted to purchase a simple package of cold medicine.

Defenses to Drug Manufacturing/Cultivation
Defenses for criminal manufacturing/cultivation charges are the same as for most other drug offenses. The police may legitimately search persons and property, and seize both persons and property, either with or without a warrant if the circumstances justify these actions. Thus, the key to a drug manufacture defense rests on proof that the police acted without probable cause or exceeded constitutional limitations on their actions. In these cases where searches and/or seizures are deemed invalid the resulting evidence may be considered to be tainted and consequently, inadmissible, leaving the court with very little recourse for a drug conviction.

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In general, a person is considered to have possession of something if that person knows of the presence of the item and has physical control of it, or has the power and intention to control the item. More than one person can be in possession of something if each person knows of its presence and has the power and intention to control it.

Examples of terms used in the law to specify the sundry nuances of possession include actual, adverse, conscious, constructive, exclusive, joint, illegal, legal, physical, sole, and superficial, as well as several other types. Some of the modifiers used to characterize possession are at times combined to narrow the specificity of the exact type of possession even more, as in joint constructive possession.

Actual Possession
Actual possession is the type of possession most commonly thought of when we think about possession in a legal sense. Actual possession (sometimes called possession in fact) means a person has direct physical custody or control of something on or around that person and is in actual possession of the item. For example, the wearing of a watch would put you in actual possession of the watch. Likewise, if you have your car keys in your pocket, you have actual possession as well. Actual possession is a very limited type of possession because frequently a person has obvious possession of an object but has no physical contact with it. To deal with this problem, drug possession laws broadened the scope of possession to reach beyond mere actual possession.

Constructive Possession
Constructive possession is a legal theory in the criminal justice system that extends the scope of possession to include situations where a person has no hands-on custody of an item. Constructive possession (sometimes called possession in law) means a person has knowledge of the existence of an object but no physical contact with it. He/she does not have actual possession of the item but has both the power and the intention to later take control over that item as in United States v. Derose, 74 F.3d 1177. For instance, you may have important documents and papers stored in a safety deposit box, and while you do not have actual physical custody and control over these items, you do have knowledge of them and the ability to exercise your control over them.

Criminal Possession
Criminal possession is possession of items that both federal and state statues make illegal to have. These items are considered dangerous or undesirable, and thus criminal to possess. Possession of certain items considered harmful to the public, like narcotics, stolen property, and burglary tools are criminal. A major source of controversy centers around criminal possession in the case of possession of drugs as this allows for arrests and convictions without proving the use or sale of the prohibited drug.

Possession of most controlled substances is a serious criminal offense under both state and federal law. Drug possession charges include the possession of controlled substances such as marijuana, methamphetamines, cocaine, ecstasy, or prescription drugs for which you do not have a prescription, like narcotic-based drugs such as Oxycodone and Vicodin. Possession of a controlled substance usually results in a felony charge, with the exception of small quantities of marijuana. Small amounts of marijuana possession are often considered misdemeanors as is the possession of drug paraphernalia (a pipe, a bong, etc.); however, most other drug convictions result in very serious penalties that may include prison and severe fines. Federal penalties for marijuana possession is punishable by up to one year in jail and a minimum fine of $1,000 for a first conviction, while federal penalties for cocaine and heroin possession are much more severe.

Defenses for Possession
In criminal cases, to be convicted of a crime of possession usually requires conscious possession. You must be conscious of the fact that you possess the item as well as conscious that possession of the item is illegal. Under the drug possession laws police may legitimately search persons and property and seize both persons and property, with or without a warrant. However, if police act without probable cause or exceed constitutional limitations by their actions, both searches and seizures may be deemed invalid causing any resulting evidence to be tainted and inadmissible as evidence in your case. Consequently, the most common approach for defending possession is violation of a person’s search and seizure rights.

Crack, another form of cocaine, comes in a rock crystal and can be heated and its vapors smoked.  With the advent of crack cocaine, the drug has become easily available and continues to burden law enforcement and health care systems alike.  Street names for cocaine include coke, Charlie, snow, flake, blow, nose candy, snowball, tornado, wicky stick, and toot.

Columbia, Peru, and Bolivia are the largest illicit coca producing countries in the world; however, Mexican drug trafficking organizations and criminal groups control most wholesale cocaine distribution in the United States, with Colombian and Dominican groups controlling some of the Northeast and Florida/Caribbean Regions.  Most cocaine is smuggled over the Mexican border into the United States and is distributed in nearly every large and midsize city.

Cocaine is categorized as a Schedule II drug under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, classifying it as a drug with a high potential for abuse, but one that can be legitimately administered by a doctor for medical uses, such as local anesthesia for throat, eye, and ear surgeries.

Cocaine possession charges include not only simple (actual) possession of the drug (on the person), but may also include constructive possess of cocaine found in any area over which a person has control. For example, the driver of a car may be in constructive possession of cocaine found inside the glove compartment or the trunk of his car or the resident owner of a house may be in constructive possession of cocaine found in his kitchen or bedroom.

The criminal justice system is fairly consistent in the war on drugs with most state law for cocaine possession or distribution mirroring federal law.  Consequently the penalties for possession and/or distribution of cocaine are the same as for all other Schedule I or II narcotics possession and distribution convictions.

Possession of less than 3 grams of cocaine is a class D felony and is punishable with one-half to three years of jail time and a fine of up to $1,000.  For greater quantities, penalties increase, peaking at possession of 3 grams or more in a park, public housing complex, school bus, or within 1,000 feet of a school, which increases the charge to a Class A Felony with six to twenty years of jail time and fines up to $10,000.  In addition, following a conviction for cocaine possession, a person’s driver’s licenses and motor vehicle registrations are suspended for a minimum of six months and a maximum of two years.

Distribution (selling) of cocaine is a much more serious crime than possession of cocaine, with much more serious penalties.  A conviction of distribution which includes the crime of possession with intent to distribute as well as distribution itself is considered a Class B felony with a jail time sentence of six to twenty years.  Class A Felony cocaine distribution and possession with intent to distribute convictions are based on the amount of cocaine involved in the crime, and ranges from 3 grams of cocaine, which draws a penalty of 6-20 years to distribution and/or possession with intent to distribute near schools and other public places, which draws a penalty of twenty to fifty years.  All penalties may include fines of up to $10,000.

Distribution of cocaine, as with all Schedule I and II drug charges, include manufacturing, financing the manufacturing, delivering, or financing the delivery of cocaine.  A sale is not a requirement for a charge of distribution of cocaine.  Mere transfer of the product is sufficient for an arrest and conviction.

Defending cocaine possession/cocaine distribution charges lies in the ability to prove that either what was found did not belong to the person charged, or at least that the person did not have intention to sell the cocaine in his/her possession, or that the law enforcement officials who arrested the person violated the his constitutional rights.  These defenses would include unreasonable search and seizure of property, no probable cause for a search, unlawful surveillance, or entrapment.