Possession Charges For Drugs Found In System

If The Drugs Are In My Blood, Can I Still Face Possession Charges?

Very interestingly, the law does not consider the sole presence of drugs in a person’s system to be possession. However, this is a very thin line to tread, since other offenses — such as DUI, or the possession of drug paraphernalia — could aggravate the charges.

Interestingly, and importantly, if you are on probation of Community Control, you may be required to submit to urine or blood testing. If you show the presence of drugs in your system, your probation may be terminated and you may be resentenced on the original offense up to the maximum for that offense. This will not be a new conviction for a new crime, but the consequences may seem as bad. You may still windup in prison.

It is always advisable to seek knowledgeable counsel from an Central Florida Criminal Defense Attorney at 407 743 8430 or 407-250-9557

“Interestingly, while you cannot be charged with a felony if, when they say they find you to be in possession of the drug, they find you in possession because it’s in your blood stream or in your urine. If they do a blood test and they find you to be in possession of cocaine, they can’t charge you with possession of cocaine. There may be an assumption that you must have, at some point in time, possessed it. You must have, at some time, ingested it. But there’s no evidence that you did that voluntarily or you did that while you were within the county or within the state of Florida, so in that case the law is pretty solid that if the only place where they find it is inside of you– Now, if they find a glassine container of cocaine inside of you or you flew in from the country and you swallowed it with the idea of getting it out after you got here, they can charge you with that. But not if it’s in your blood.”

If they find you to be in actual or constructive possession of an illegal drug and in addition they find you to have the drug in your system, evidence of that will likely be admissible to prove you were aware of the drugs they found outside your body.

If you are required by your employer to submit to a drug testing program, the circumstances are entirely different. D

Florida is a “right to work” state and your employer (unless you have either Civil Service protection or union protection) has the right to terminate your employment for pretty much any reason (other than a Constitutionally protected status like race or gender.) So, a dirty drug screen might cost you your job. It will not however result in your employer reporting you to the police and them arresting you abased on that same drug test.

If you have any concerns or questions, you should reach out immediately to the experienced criminal defense lawyers at The Defense Group.

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