Drug crimes
Saving a life can result in immunity from drug charges
The epidemic of fatal drug overdoses throughout the U.S. shows no signs of abating – especially with highly-lethal drugs like fentanyl becoming more prevalent. Thankfully, some scenarios that may potentially result in overdose deaths can be prevented if victims get medical help in time. Unfortunately, people often don’t call 911...
What is drug scheduling?
Drug crimes are taken seriously in Pennsylvania. It’s important to understand the concept of drug scheduling and what it means. What is drug scheduling? Different types of drugs are categorized into schedules per the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. The Drug Enforcement Administration or DEA is responsible for determining the...
Penalties for marijuana possession in Pennsylvania
Marijuana comes from the dried leaves of the cannabis plant, and some states have made it legal with some restrictions. Other states allow medical use, but it is still illegal in several states. A person in State College, Pennsylvania, may face several charges for possessing or selling it. Marijuana laws...
Penalties for cocaine crimes in Pennsylvania
Cocaine is a very addictive controlled substance made from the leaves of coca plants. Since it can damage health, most states have made laws that prohibit cocaine. A person in State College, Pennsylvania, who gets caught with cocaine faces several penalties. Overview of Pennsylvania drug laws Pennsylvania divides controlled substances...
What are the elements of entrapment?
If you face drug charges after dealing with an undercover officer, you may be wondering whether he or she performed a fair arrest. While officers have a right to investigate without revealing their identity, there are rules for soliciting a crime. According to the United States Department of Justice, if...
The surging opioid epidemic
The opioid epidemic continues to hit Pennsylvania extraordinarily hard. It is a problem that, to date, has taken friends and family members from a huge number of people throughout the Commonwealth, and that has affected the lives of nearly every Pennsylvanian. Recent news indicates that there is no sign of...
Is marijuana legal in Pennsylvania?
If a police officer arrests you for something, it is typically safe to assume that the charge could result in a conviction. However, you have rights. Marijuana laws are changing in Pennsylvania. However, they are still somewhat strict — especially when compared with some other areas of the Northeast. Medical...
What is fentanyl?
Opioids are a class of drugs with a high potential for abuse and overdose. While many of these drugs have legitimate therapeutic uses for relieving pain, they are often used illegally to induce a feeling of euphoria. This is especially true of fentanyl, which is a highly potent synthetic opioid....
Students with drug convictions: rehab may be required for aid
If you are a student, you most likely receive some form of financial aid. Most people apply for federal aid by completing the FAFSA. As with any financial aid, there are requirements that a student must meet. There are also conditions that can hurt a person’s chances of financial aid....
Can a legal drug lead to criminal charges?
There is a fine line between legal and illegal drugs. While you may think that using or buying a legal drug will protect you from criminal charges, this may not be true. The U.S. Department of Justice explains that drugs you can legally buy can become illegal if you do...
My city decriminalized pot — why was I arrested?
Several municipalities in Pennsylvania have passed ordinances decriminalizing the possession of under an ounce of cannabis. Still, the police in these cities may arrest and charge you if they find you carrying even a small amount of marijuana. According to the York Daily Record, there were more marijuana charges in...
How to move on after a drug conviction
When an individual has an arrest on their criminal record, it should not ruin their future. According to Criminaldefenceblawg, individuals may still look past the difficulties and challenges of getting arrested and facing legal punishments. Similarly, they may look up to their future and rebuild their life. When they know the actions...
Preparing for employment after your drug conviction
When you have been convicted of a drug-related crime in Pennsylvania, your future may be uncertain as you learn how your actions will impact your effort to maintain relationships, build trust in others and qualify for a job. At Decker Bradburn Attorneys at Law, we see the good in everyone...
What is the Good Samaritan law?
In the US, the opioid epidemic continues and Pennsylvania is no exception. In many states, policymakers face uncertainty on how to curb the epidemic and reduce the overdose rates. The Good Samaritan law is among the attempts at reducing overdoses. The NCSL reports that Pennsylvania is one of 40 states...
Financial challenges resulting from drug charges
When someone is charged with an offense that involves drugs, there are many different consequences they may lose sleep about. From time behind bars to an inability to continue their college education, these cases are very serious and can turn someone’s life upside down in many ways. In this post,...
Magic mushrooms still transport you to Pennsylvania prisons (2024 update)
Americans everywhere are wondering how psilocybin mushrooms legality may change across the country after Denver, Colorado became the first and only city in the United States to decriminalize the drug. But, here’s why it’s important to remember the consequences of using, growing, possessing, buying or selling these drugs in Pennsylvania....
Drug dealers can be charged with homicide in overdose cases
Although illicit drugs are dangerous, some college students nevertheless choose to experiment with them. Sometimes, this involves supplying friends with illegal drugs or prescription medications. Few of these young people anticipate that their friends may suffer a fatal overdose. But if this does happen, the dealer may have to cope...
Prosecutors will file no charges in Prince’s fentanyl death
Just before the second anniversary of megastar Prince’s death, federal prosecutors have announced they will file no criminal charges in the case. Prince died at age 57 in April 2016, after overdosing on fentanyl-laced pain pills. He was found unresponsive at his studio compound Paisley Park in Minnesota. Authorities found...
Medical marijuana program may expand in Pennsylvania
Patients and advocates celebrated earlier this year when Pennsylvania’s first medical marijuana dispensaries finally opened after legislation creating the program passed in 2016. The creation of the program has been a step in the right direction for people whose serious illnesses leave them dealing with unbearable pain and other side...
Local cocaine distribution case pits son against mother
One of the most troubling parts of the War on Drugs is the way that it can divide families. In a recent case in Clearfield, an alleged member of a Houtzdale cocaine distribution ring received a lighter sentence because he has been cooperating in the prosecution of his mother. The...
Prison visitors, inmates charged with smuggling Suboxone
Suboxone, generically known as buprenorphine and naloxone, is commonly prescribed to treat opioid addiction. Unfortunately, prison-based opioid addiction treatment often doesn’t provide the drug or the relief it offers to suffering addicts. It seems, however, that several people at the Rockview State Correctional Institution may have tried to make it...
PA court: ‘Good Samaritan’ overdose law protects self-reporters
One of the ways that state authorities here in Pennsylvania have tried to make it easier to save the lives of people who are overdosing on drugs like heroin or fentanyl is through the state’s “Good Samaritan Law.” This blog has previously written about the statute, which provides immunity from...
Could lower drug charges reduce the racial sentencing disparity?
Across the U.S., minorities face apparently race-based disparities in every part of the criminal justice system. They tend to be contacted by police, arrested, charged, and convicted at higher rates than whites despite being no more likely to commit crimes than their white peers. They are also incarcerated more often...
PA physician assistant accused of writing bogus prescriptions
A Philipsburg physician assistant has been arrested for allegedly writing prescriptions in the wrong name or for people who weren’t patients of her clinic and under other illegal circumstances. She and another person were arrested. Interestingly, the Drug Enforcement Administration investigated for a full year after receiving a complaint about...
Pennsylvania governor declares opioids a public health emergency
With fatal drug overdoses continuing to mount by the thousands, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf declared the ongoing addiction and opioids crisis a public health emergency, setting up a framework to allow the state to respond to the crisis like it would a natural disaster. The emergency declaration allows for more...
Could Sessions’ crackdown on legal marijuana hurt Pennsylvanians?
Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana system may be in its infancy, but it relies on the good will of the Department of Justice. That’s because cannabis remains illegal under federal law. Under the Obama administration, the Justice Department took a hands-off approach toward legalized medical and recreational cannabis. In 2013, then Attorney...
Buffalo Twp couple arrested when hibiscus mistaken as marijuana
Their insurance agent came to their house to investigate a fallen tree. It seems that agent took it upon himself to perform a more serious investigation. After noticing some unusual plants in the backyard of his clients’ Buffalo Township home, he sent pictures to the police. Rather than sending an...
Young man denies search consent; now facing drug, weapon charges
An 18-year-old man from Bellefonte was arrested recently after police allegedly discovered drugs, drug paraphernalia and a prohibited weapon in his possession. On Sept. 12, Pennsylvania State Police were called to a Bellefonte address after a report of an argument. A trooper met with the individual reported to be involved,...
Sessions wants a culture that’s ‘hostile’ to drug use
Calling the opioid epidemic the deadliest such crisis in American history, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions called upon social workers and law enforcement this week to “create and foster a culture that’s hostile to drug use.” He was speaking to the annual conference of the National Alliance for Drug Endangered...
Overdose deaths among young adults rise after declining for years
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a troubling report on Wednesday. After years of steady decline, fatal overdoses among Americans aged 15 to 19 rose in 2015 over the previous year. Unfortunately, it’s not clear what caused the change. Since around 2008, overdoses have been much less common...
Penn. drug-crisis vigilante pleads guilty to gun charges in NJ
After his daughter’s overdose death, a 52-year-old gun range owner from the Lehigh Valley dedicated his life to intervening when young people become involved with drugs and the collateral dangers associated with them. He’s not performing your standard drug interventions, though. Instead, he stands ready — and armed — to...
DOJ appears poised to crack down on marijuana possession
Is ordinary, adult use of marijuana a precursor to violent crime? Whether you think it is or not, ask yourself if putting recreational weed smokers behind bars is likely to be an effective strategy at combating violent crime. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions apparently thinks it would be, and it...
Understanding Pennsylvania’s ‘Good Samaritan’ law for overdoses
The opioid and heroin overdose crisis continues to destroy lives in central Pennsylvania and across the commonwealth. Some local law enforcement agencies are attempting to take steps to help people struggling with an addiction to heroin, fentanyl or prescription painkillers. However, many people remain in the shadows, fearful of a...
Pregnant woman overdoses, gets charged with assault on child
A 30-year-old East Butler woman has been charged with aggravated assault on an unborn child after overdosing on heroin while seven months pregnant. The baby was born a day after the overdose and is now on life support with “lasting injuries,” according to police. The woman had been in jail...
Appeals Court: No lifetime supervised release for drug traffickers
In July 2010, the U.S. Sentencing Commission issued a report on the federal supervised release program, which is similar to parole. The main purpose of the program, the report said, is “to facilitate the reintegration of federal prisoners back into the community.” In other words, supervised release is not meant...
Recent development in criminal sentencing policy
One thing that is likely not on the minds of many young people — students and otherwise — in the State College area and across Pennsylvania when they have some peripheral involvement with drugs at an arguably low level (for example, possession or sale of a small amount of marijuana)...
Centre County officials excited about drug court prospects
Various counties across Pennsylvania have so-called “drug courts” in place, which operate as criminal justice tools lauded by many for their creativity and fresh approach toward reducing recidivism, cutting costs and helping to reintegrate offenders into their local communities. Centre County is not one of them. At least not yet....
Key elements of proven drug defense representation
No tried-and-tested criminal defense attorney in Pennsylvania or any other state would in good faith ever promise a complete dismissal of all charges in a drug crimes case. That would be unprofessional and potentially misleading. The dropping off all charges is not possible in every case. Having said that, though,...
Is a change in Pennsylvania’s heroin policy in the works?
The election featured a great deal of discussion about how to help communities in areas like central Pennsylvania, which are struggling with heroin and prescription painkiller addiction and overdoses. Individuals and families in towns like State College are crying out for a better response to the epidemic from law enforcement...
Pennsylvania does not treat marijuana as “harmless fun”
As a college student, you have already encountered many new life experiences, and there are more to come. That also means there will be some mistakes. Most people accept that college students should have the freedom to make mistakes and learn from them. Unfortunately, the law in Pennsylvania still regards...
This Halloween, don’t let a drug arrest be on scare list
Fall marks the end of summer and is somewhat sad in that sense. On the other hand, this point in October is when ideas run through the heads of adults and children about what they will be for Halloween. Maybe you plan to dress up in costume. If you are...