Even though opinions and laws concerning both medical marijuana and recreational marijuana are beginning to change across the country, Florida still considers cannabis and all of its forms a Schedule I drug. Selling, transporting, or any other form of trafficking involving marijuana is therefore illegal, and considered a felony offense on all counts in Florida. It is important to consider the services of an experienced Jacksonville marijuana defense attorney as part of your defense strategy against marijuana trafficking charges in Duval County or the surrounding areas.
A conviction for a Florida felony comes with more than jail time, fines, and a social stigma; there are also state-mandated sanctions reaching into other parts of your life, such as your civil rights, to consider. If you have been charged with felony trafficking in marijuana in Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fernandina Beach, Callahan, Hilliard, Orange Park, Green Cove Spring, or Middleburg, contact experienced drug crime lawyer Bill Roelke of Roelke Law, P.A. to begin constructing a defense to fight for your rights and your future.
Bill Roelke combines his former experience as a research scientist and his 20 years of service to criminal defense clients like you to create a methodical, detailed defense strategy customized to your case. Your first consultation concerning your marijuana trafficking case is free, so call (904) 354-0333 today to schedule yours.
Sometimes, the legal definition of a word varies from, or is more specific than, the commonplace usage in everyday life. The ability of you and your Jacksonville marijuana crime defense lawyer to understand these terms and how they apply to your case could be critical to getting evidence against your marijuana trafficking case in Duval County dismissed. The terms that are important to understand with regard to the Florida Statutes and marijuana trafficking include:
Actual Possession – The act of having definite physical control over the marijuana, usually on your person. This can include having cannabis in your hands, pockets, or purse.
Cannabis – Also known as marijuana, pot, weed, chronic, ganja, reefer, bud, and hydro, the legal definition includes every part of every plant in the genus Cannabis, growing or not, including the seeds and resin or any compound, mixture, salt, derivative, manufacture, or preparation of any part of the plant, seeds or resin.
Cannabis Plant – The legal definition is not limited to the whole plant, whether harvested or growing. Rather, it includes the seedlings, cuttings, and any other part of the cannabis plant that may be perceived as an independent plant by the visibility of root formation, such as roots hairs, to the naked eye.
Constructive Possession – In contract to actual possession, constructive possession of marijuana is having the knowledge that the substance is illegal, as well as the ability and the intent to take actual physical possession of the cannabis.
Deliver – No matter the existence of an agency relationship, to deliver is the actual, constructive or attempted transfer of the marijuana from one person to another person.
Manufacture – The direct or indirect compounding, conversion, cultivation, growing, preparation, processing, or propagation of the marijuana, whether using a method of extraction from natural substances, means of chemical synthesis, or a combination of both. This includes any packaging, labeling, or relabeling of the marijuana and its container.
Sell – When one trades the marijuana to another person in exchange for money or other item(s) of value
The word trafficking when it comes to controlled substances like marijuana brings to mind the process of moving the drug for the purpose of delivering or selling it. Indeed, part of the definition for an offense in marijuana in Florida is defined in Fla. Stat. §893.135 as knowingly selling, manufacturing, delivering, or bringing into the state cannabis in any of its forms.
However, in Florida, by this same statute, the amount of marijuana involved is just as important, if not more so, than the actions surrounding it. The standard amount of marijuana in Florida that indicates trafficking is 25 pounds or more, or 300 plants or more. Thus, you can be charged with a Duval County marijuana trafficking offense for knowingly selling, manufacturing (which includes cultivating), delivering, or bringing into the state an amount of marijuana exceeding this standard, as well as for just being in possession of 25 pounds or 300 plants of cannabis, even if possession of the substance is only intended for personal use.
According to 21 U.S.C. 807, marijuana trafficking can also be a federal offense if there is intent to sell across Florida borders, throughout the state of Florida, or from a foreign county to Florida present. The penalties for marijuana trafficking as a federal offense vary according to the amount of cannabis present and the circumstances of the case. No matter if your marijuana trafficking charge is state or federal, if you are considering the services of an experienced Duval County criminal defense lawyer it is best to contact him or her as soon as possible after your arrest so he or she can begin protecting your rights immediately.
Trafficking in marijuana in Florida is a first-degree felony. However, as opposed to following the standard penalties for first-degree felonies set out in Fla. Stat. §§ 775.082 – 775.084, different penalties for marijuana trafficking are specifically defined in Fla. Stat. §893.135 based on the amount of marijuana involved. The assigned mandatory minimum penalties and their associated amounts are as follows:
Certain drug offenses like marijuana trafficking also come with a Florida driver’s license suspension for two years. Additionally, all Florida convicted felons face sanctions like revocation of civil rights including the right to vote and bear arms, ineligibility for certain employment and educational opportunities, and mandatory waiting periods for government assistance or the ability to foster or adopt children. Hiring an experienced drug defense lawyer for Duval County will help ensure your rights are protected, as well as be a proactive approach to possibly shielding your future and your freedom from some or all of these penalties for trafficking in marijuana.
If you have been arrested and charged with marijuana trafficking in Duval County, St. Johns County, Nassau County, or Clay County, contact experienced marijuana crime defense lawyer Bill Roelke. He will explore all the details in your case and create a comprehensive, customized defense that will fight to defend your rights, your future, and your freedom from a felony conviction of trafficking in marijuana. Your first consultation is free, so call (904) 354-0333 today to schedule yours.
