We all know drugs are bad, right? Is it really that simple?

Many parents, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, and friends become addicted to drugs.  Some were introduced to drugs through prescription use to start, or an experimental encounter at a friend’s party one weekend in Loveland, Estes Park, Fort Collins or Greeley.

The impacts of these drugs on your day-to-day functioning became addictive and “necessary” and when a prescription runs you started looking to alternative sources to fill the void.  If you were addicted to Opioids for pain, then you may have found your way to substitutes like Heroin, Fentanyl, or Oxycodone abuse.  If you needed psychiatric assistance or had sleep issues, you may have become addicted to Benzodiazipines of “Benzos.”  Or, you may have been looking for a stimulant to deal with the monotony of life and started trying Methamphetamines (Meth) or Cocaine.

Regardless of your or a family member’s reason for starting, addictions can lead from simple use to distribution to pay for the cost of using.  In turn, the Larimer County District Attorney’s Office and Weld County District Attorney’s Office will see you or your family member as a drug dealer instead of a drug addict.  This distinction changes the exposure of your case from being time on probation with substance abuse treatment programs to spending years in the Department of Corrections away from your family and children.

C.R.S. 18-18-401 et seq., covers a variety of criminal allegations surrounding drug use, manufacturing, distribution, selling, and possession. Schedule I and II drugs are listed in C.R.S. 18-18-203 and 18-18-204. Part 4 of Article 18 of Title 18, distinguishes between the type and quantity of drugs listed in Schedules I and II. For example, under C.R.S. 18-18-405, if you possess not more than 14 grams of a Schedule I or II controlled substance () with the intent to manufacture, sell, or distribute, then you face a class 3 drug felony.

Even worse, an individual who commits the class 3 drug felony, and in addition, “used, displayed or possesssed on his or her person or within his or her immediate reach, a deadly weapon” pursuant to C.R.S. 18-18-407, will face a mandatory prison sentence of 12 to 32 years.

Whether you have been charged with simple possession or conspiracy to distribute, manufacture, sell or purchase drugs, you need the assistance of a competent and respected Criminal Defense Attorney.  Contact The Harrell Law Firm, PLLC today for assistance.