Drugs

Virginia drug prosecutions are big business for police, prosecutors and state drug lab workers in the commonwealth. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I have successfully defended hundreds of defendants in the nation's decades-long failure of a drug war that threatens alleged drug traffickers and manufacturers...

Virginia conspiracy prosecutions enable prosecutors to pursue convictions for both allegedly completed and uncompleted crimes, and therefore to expose criminal defendants to higher overall incarceration terms. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I dissent that the criminal conspiracy definition is not set at a higher threshold,...

Drug possession has for decades been a Virginia felony for Schedule I and II drugs. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer and civil libertarian, I support efforts -- which I expect will ultimately come to fruition -- to change the Virginia drug law for personal use...

Drug dealing convictions in Virginia can result from matching packaging and so-called expert testimony about intent to distribute. As a Fairfax drug lawyer, I know the risk of the presence near drugs risking a prosecution and conviction for possessing or trafficking in those drugs. Consequently,...

Virginia cannabis prosecutions are many fewer now that personal possession of  an ounce or less of marijuana is no longer a crime in the commonwealth. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer and Virginia drug attorney, I know that marijuana selling of any quantity of marijuana --...

Virginia criminal lawyer speaks through statutes and judicial orders. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that criminal defense lawyers need to focus judges on the governing law and court orders that can best lead to a defense victory. Judges are not here to do...

Fairfax drug lawyer addresses no further license suspension for Virginia drug convictions. First the law changed to not automatically require license suspensions for marijuana 251's. That was followed in 2020 by not requiring license suspensions for drug convictions nor 251 dispositions. Drug convictions and 251...

Marijuana reform has been a major issue for me for decades, and now the years of hard work and sweat equity (none of which I take credit for) by marijuana legalization activists has paid off amazingly as Virginia joins the ranks of other states that...

Drug court judges repeatedly hear police justify stops, frisks, searches and arrests of criminal suspects based on their purported "knowledge, training and experience" and behavior consistent with criminal activity. As a Fairfax criminal defense lawyer, I know that police have no superhuman cognition. I also...

Virginia DUI THC cases cannot be proven by prosecution with blood analyses alone Virginia DUI cases based on THC / marijuana blood content are insufficient to obtain a conviction on the mere basis of blood THC content alone. As a Fairfax DWI lawyer, I know...