What Is The Difference Between Possession, Sale And Intent To Sell Charges?
Possession is to actually have a drug on your person or within ready reach to be considered to be in actual possession. The law breaks down possession into actual possession or constructive possession. If I have the ability to maintain dominion and control over them then I can be constructively in possession of those drugs even though I do not have them in my pocket or in my hand. There is a lot of litigation generally in a criminal court system, whether or not the individual was constructively in possession of whatever the drug might be. Along with that is a whole idea of whether or not the person knows that the items are there, there is a knowledge and intent to possess. You do not necessarily have to own the drugs to possess them that is a misnomer too.
They could be charged with drugs, but if they are sitting on the seat beside me and I have the ability to reach with my hand and grab them, I could arguably be held in the actual possession and be charged with the drug possession. Sale or distribute is just as its name implies. If you sell an item in an illegal commerce, or distribute it, or you can distribute without having necessarily a sale, I could be the person that is actually taking the money and I can have someone else delivering the item to the buyer and I can be charged with sale just like the person who is actually delivering the items because I am involved in the transaction even though I might not possess it.
That leads to increased or enhanced penalties. Possession with intent to distribute and that is where the drugs are there, they have not yet been sold or transferred, but it is clear from the facts involved in the case that the items that are involved, the drugs involved were not just for personal use. It also generally leads to a more severe potential sentence and certainly will foreclose a person from the ability to perhaps have avenues for a lesser sentence or even a non-sentence through a deferral. So those are the possession, sale and intent circumstances.
The Importance Of Evidence In Drug Related Cases
They become all encompassing, all important. If I am sitting in a car and have a kilo of cocaine underneath the seat and it is not my car and I was just getting a ride from Point A and Point B and I did not know anything about the drugs; my lack of knowledge would be a complete defense to the charge of possession or trafficking cocaine. These cases tend to be largely fact based and the defense in such a situation, which has to show that the individual should not be criminally liable because one fact or a set of facts shows that the elements for the offense with which that person is charged cannot be fulfilled, in other words, something is missing. Either I did not possess it or I did not know it was there, that type of thing. It was not my car, it was not my bag, not my drugs.
What Are The Laws Regarding Marijuana Usage In Florida?
Florida has no medical marijuana. Marijuana, in Florida, is illegal, period. There is a movement afoot, they have received enough signatures to place medical marijuana fact on the ballot this year to make it an amendment and can get medical marijuana up and running in Florida. Several years ago, they failed to reach the minimum vote to have it sustained and it was defeated. The individuals that came out against it had a couple of things that they said could lead to abuse and this time around. The loopholes have rather been tightened so there would be less chance for abuse by individuals if the law did pass.
Right now, if you have marijuana on your person, you can go to jail for up to a year. You can get fined up to $1,000 or both. If you have over 20 grams of cannabis, marijuana, you can go to prison up to five years or be subjected up to $5,000 fine or both. Typically, people deal in ounces. If you have an ounce of marijuana, that is 28 grams in Florida. You are 8 grams over the felony amount. It is not that much marijuana, but if you have 21 grams, you are going to be facing a potential felony conviction.
Many states now have joined in on the medical marijuana side of things. Fewer states, but more all the time is completely decriminalizing marijuana. You could still go to jail, but I am being told that around the state in some various places that if they catch you with marijuana, they are just letting you pay the fine and be done with it. There are people that are harming other people, having a joint in your pocket should not be something that you spend time in jail for. Apparently several areas of our state are thinking the same thing, but again, here in my area, if you have a joint in your pocket, you could go to jail and have to bond out of jail.
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