Drug charges can negatively influence your life for many years to come. If you’re facing them, something you need to understand is that a simple act of possession could become a charge for intending to distribute drugs if you possessed enough for the prosecution to pursue that charge.
Someone caught at any part of the distribution chain can be charged with this crime, too. This means that if you were manufacturing, delivering, selling or transporting drugs to others, then you could be charged with possession with the intent to distribute.
Possession with intent to distribute comes with harsher penalties
You should know that simple possession has much less severe penalties compared to those that come with intent to distribute drugs. For one thing, bail will be higher. There will also be a more severe punishment upon conviction.
It is a felony to intend to distribute, so it’s important to take action to fight back against charges. Potential penalties also vary depending on the schedule of the drug involved.
How could you be falsely accused of intending to distribute drugs?
Imagine this scenario: You’re driving home and have a friend with you. You drop them off at their house on the way, but they leave some drugs behind in your vehicle. You don’t know about them.
You get stopped because you’re speeding. The officer happens to have a drug dog with him that he takes around the vehicle as he completes the traffic stop. The drug dog alerts him to the vehicle, and you end up having a search. The drugs are found, and there are baggies within a larger bag that appear they’re packaged for sale.
In this case, you could be falsely accused of not only possessing drugs but also intending to distribute them to others. You’d want to take steps to learn more about your legal rights as soon as possible after the arrest, because the last thing you want is to go to jail or face trial for a crime that you did not commit.
