Four Serious Implications of Drug Legal Charges
Some legal charges can affect your life in many different ways. If you are being charged with a drug or alcohol charge, it is necessary to hire the right criminal defense attorney. Drug crimes cover a variety of illegal substances and actions, but most of them can have serious implications on your life. In most cases, you will find that hiring a drug defense attorney is worth every penny, because of the following areas that it can protect.
A legal record and severe fines
Many drug charges come with severe fines. You could realistically end up paying thousands and thousands of dollars of a series of years. This includes court fees, probation or jail fees, and legal fines. This often does not include the costs of legal representation, such as a marijuana defense lawyer. You will also have a permanent legal record. If you are to have any future trouble with the law, your permanent legal record can affect those charges. With 1,315,561 lawyers in the United States currently, you can find one that can help to reduce your charges and protect your legal record.
Current and future career possibilities
Possession of narcotics can also affect your career possibilities. In many cases, your current employer can force you to resign or fire you, based on these charges. Depending on the type of charge you receive, you might also be required to inform future employers of these charges, making it close to impossible to find employment. Approximately 68 million people in this country are living with a criminal record. Skimping on legal representation could actually end up costing you hundreds of thousands of dollars in missed employment and career possibilities. Hiring a qualified and experienced drug defense attorney is crucial in protecting your employment.
Residential and living options
What if you were told you were not allowed to purchase a house in your dream neighborhood? Legal charges can also affect where you are allowed to live. For example, if your drug charges included any sex offender or substance charge, you may be required to live a specific distance from schools or parks. Your location at the time of the charge may also affect the specific legal charges that you receive. In Indiana, for example, possession of any controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school, park, housing complex, or youth center may be punishable by 20 to 50 years in prison, depending on the substance.
If you have children, this can make it difficult to obtain housing. Imagine being unable to pick your children up from school, or attend school events on campus. Imagine having to give up your dream house in your dream neighborhood, because your legal charges prevent you from living in that specific neighborhood. Even if you are not planning on moving in the near future, these implications can affect you many years later. Protect your residential status and possibilities by hiring a good drug defense attorney.
License abilities
Some drug and alcohol charges can also affect your ability to have a driver?s license, or even a professional license. Because a lot of career and social situations rely on the ability to operate a vehicle, this could have its own severe implications. The inability to operate a vehicle can affect your ability to hold employment, gain custody of your children, or run simple errands. If you held or were in the progress of obtaining a professional license, drug charges could affect this, as well. A couple of professional licenses that might be affected include legal license, contractor license, real estate license, mental health license, or even a salon license.
The United States is currently taking strict method to reduce the amount of drug and alcohol related crimes. This, however good in some situations, can have severe consequences, if you are charged with a drug or alcohol legal charge. Not hiring the right drug defense representation can have life altering consequences, including the inability to live where you want, severe fines, permanent legal charges, the loss or inability to obtain a professional license, and the loss of a driver?s license. Do not risk all of these things by not hiring legal representation.