Articles Posted in Drug Crimes

Are There Any Punishments Or Charges That Can Be Brought Against You For Drug Paraphernalia? Yes. When talking about either obvious paraphernalia or perhaps legal household items, it’s interesting because even though it’s legal to buy these types of drug paraphernalia, when the police find it on a person and associate it with the use of the illegal drugs, they can charge people with possession of drug paraphernalia for having a syringe or having a pipe and things like that. So, it is a crime in Michigan. Typically, it’s a 93-day misdemeanor. What Are The Laws Surrounding Either Forging A...

What are drug recognition experts and do you have those in Michigan? That is to say, someone who would perhaps be called to the scene to detect drugs other than alcohol in someone who has been pulled over for DUI. No. In Michigan, there may be some people who have had some special training, but it’s not a common occurrence that you’ll have a specialized expert in drug recognition science called to the scene. Typically, a regular officer will just feel that there is something wrong with that driver, they’ll ask some questions, and if they can’t find sufficient explanation...

Interviewer: Does Michigan have specific laws on levels of drugs in people’s system, either illegal or prescription?  Do they look at metabolites versus active compounds?  Do they look at just the level?  What’s the law say? Attorney Tafelski: Pretty much in Michigan the law concerns illegal drugs.  Any amount is enough for them to convict you of operating under the influence of drugs or operating under the influence of controlled substance. Michigan Has Passed the Medical Marijuana Law Interestingly, though, Michigan just passed the medical marijuana law within the last couple of years and there was recently a court of...

Interviewer: Today we’re going to be talking about DUI.  First of all, every state seems to call it something different.  What do they call this offense in Michigan? Attorney Tafelski: In Michigan, commonly people will sometimes use the word DUI or DWI, but technically it is OWI, which stands for Operating While Intoxicated; or OWVI, which stands for Operating While Visibly Impaired. Interviewer: In all the years you’ve been practicing, how many OWI cases do you think you’ve handled? Attorney Tafelski: I have to say I have handled hundreds of these cases. Interviewer: Is there a common back story that...

Interviewer: Of the cases that you see, what percentage now are due to drugs, either illegal or prescription drugs? Attorney Tafelski: It’s still a relatively small percentage.  Don’t forget, with prescription drugs it’s not illegal to drive unless your ability to drive is impaired.  If the police officer pulls you over for Xanax or Percocet or Vicodin, and even thinks you’re acting a slightly impaired, he still has to put you through the field sobriety test and make a determination that your driving is impaired by the drugs. Then they would have to get a blood draw.  Then, really, they’ve...

A Michigan Supreme Court ruling could result in the closure of the state’s approximately 100 medical marijuanadispensaries. The high court ruled in February that while the sale of medical marijuana is allowed under state law, it cannot happen in a business that facilitates patient-to-patient pot sales. The 4-1 decision affirmed a Court of Appeals ruling that a Mount Pleasant dispensary, Compassionate Apothecary, could be shut down as a public nuisance. The case is State of Michigan v. Brandon McQueen and Matthew Taylor, d/b/a Compassionate Apothecary, LLC. In a news release, Attorney General Bill Schuette praised the ruling and said it virtually prohibits all...