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Tough Sentencing for Drug Users in California

By Neil Shous, Esq.

California is thought to offer one of the more lenient sentencing schemes in the nation for casual drug users. Offenders charged with first-offense drug possession almost always can escape custody time (and get the charges dismissed) through Penal Code 1000 drug diversion or Proposition 36. Both of these programs offer treatment as an alternative to jail and a criminal record. But one California drug law stands out as unusually harsh: Health & Safety Code 11550: Being Under the Influence of a Controlled Substance. This law mandates a minimum 90 days of jail for anyone convicted. The law applies to anyone found to be intoxicated on either an illicit narcotic, or even a prescription drug for which the user does not have a lawfully issued prescription...continue to full post

Full post as published by California Criminal Defense Blog on July 06, 2009 (boomark / email).