Under current Alabama law, anyone using marijuana for medical reasons may be prosecuted. But legislative committees are considering proposals to change Alabama’s criminal law to legalize medical marijuana. CANNABIS FOR QUALIFYING CONDITIONS Under the measures under consideration, people with qualifying medical conditions could access cannabis for therapeutic purposes. Patients, caregivers, and businesses that legally supply medical cannabis would…

Across the nation, there is an increasing freedom to recreationally use marijuana. Alabama, however, has not altered its laws to legalize the drug. With that, people who are caught and accused of drug crimes related to marijuana can face substantial penalties if they are convicted. This can impact anyone including those who are in possession…

Adderall is an amphetamine drug that has a stimulant effect on the body. It is common to prescribe it to teens and adults as a treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Despite its accepted medical use, however, Adderall is a Schedule II controlled substance because of its high potential for abuse. It is only available…

The ease with which a person can become hooked on a drug is one of several factors that can go towards determining a drug’s addictive potential. Another factor relates to how the drug makes one feel while taking it, e.g., a subjective description of its pleasurable effects or an objective measure of how it activates…

According to recent reports, a man is being held on a bond of over $275,000 in Alabama while he is awaiting the disposition of several serious drug charges against him. The most serious charge the man faces is trafficking in heroin. This charge is a Class A felony in Alabama, which means that the maximum punishment…

Like other states, Alabama law criminalizes the possession of and transfer items that are referred to as drug paraphernalia. These items can be household products and other common goods, including things like rolling paper, pipes, weighing scales, blenders and the like. Basically, anything that can be used for the creation, distribution or use of controlled substances, including…

In addition to being charged in state court, someone who is accused of selling or otherwise delivering controlled substances may also find themselves the target of a federal investigation and, ultimately, a criminal charge under the laws of the United States. The federal penalties for drug crimes involving trafficking are severe, even for a first-time offense. For…

Mobile police conducted a sweep for illegal drug activity in a local neighborhood recently. Police claim that they are seeking 9 people in a total of over 40 cases. In each of the cases, the police allege that the suspect distributed illegal drugs. Although police only made one arrest of two suspects during the series of raids,…

Naloxone (otherwise, known by brand name, Narcan) is a drug that can reverse the effects of opioids to prevent an overdose from happening. As the opioid epidemic continues to threaten the lives of Americans across the country, Alabama is taking steps to protect its youths by making Naloxone available in public high schools. What is…

Both for historical and practical reasons, the law recognizes that students attending public schools simply cannot have the same Fourth Amendment rights as they would when they are at home or out on the street. This is so even though school officials and, especially, school resource officers, are government actors who must respect the Constitution….