Prescription drugs are subject to state and federal regulations. While they serve as medications that can help people with symptoms ranging from insomnia to persistent muscular tension, these substances aren’t available to just anyone.
People typically cannot obtain prescription medication without a doctor’s recommendation. Legal possession and use of a prescription depends on someone’s adherence to medical recommendations. Under controlled substances laws, certain drugs are only legal when a doctor believes they are necessary to treat a condition or manage someone’s symptoms.
Many people get arrested every year for allegations that they abused or illegally possessed prescription medications. Why are criminal offenses related to prescribed medications so common?
Many medicines are addictive
There is a relatively simple explanation for why so many people end up breaking the law by using prescribed medication without a doctor’s recommendation or after a physician ends their treatment. Many medications are addictive. Narcotic pain relievers, for example, are among the most abused prescribed medications. Particularly when doctors don’t carefully monitor someone’s termination of treatment by slowly tapering them off of a medication, a patient may still feel dependent on it when they run out of refills.
Those fearing withdrawal or a return of their symptoms may turn to illegal methods to acquire the medication they desire. People can acquire a range of different prescribed medications on the unregulated market. Pain relievers, muscle relaxants, psychiatric drugs, erectile dysfunction drugs and ADHD medications are all common for people to illegally buy and sell without licenses.
State authorities prioritize drug crimes
Abuse of certain types of prescribed drugs, like opioids, has a strong association with overdose deaths. Therefore, police departments often make enforcing controlled substances laws a priority. Anyone caught transferring medication or possessing it without a prescription could end up facing criminal charges even though they started using that medication under a doctor’s recommendation due to a doctor’s recommendation.
Particularly when someone has a large amount of medication that has a strong association with abuse, the state is likely to pursue at least possession charges. Larger quantities of medication could lead to more serious charges, including possession with intent to distribute.
Prescription drug infractions can lead to a host of serious penalties that can change the course of someone’s life. Fighting back against drug charges can help someone to potentially avoid criminal penalties and a lasting criminal record.