Experienced, Aggressive Defense
Over 60 Years Combined Experience
Handling All State and Federal Crimes
Practicing 100% Criminal Defense
If you have been arrested in Brevard County / Central Florida for a crime involving prescription drugs, retaining an experienced criminal defense attorney at the earliest possible stage in your case is your first line of defense.
Illicit prescription drug possession, use, and sale is rampant in Central Florida and nationwide. The problem has been precipitated by a rise in the number of pain clinics, the liberal dispensing of controlled substances by doctors, the practice of “doctor shopping”, and the lack of comprehensive drug monitoring in Florida. Commonly abused prescription drugs include: Alprazolam (Xanax), Oxycodone, Percocet, Roxicodone, Hydrocodone (Vicodin, Lortab, Lorcet), Propoxyphene (Darvocet), Lorazepam (Ativan), Diazepam (Valium), and Clonazepam (Klonopin).
Many people do not appreciate the seriousness of illicit prescription drug use until they are placed under arrest. Prescription drugs are often looked at as “safer” and “legal” simply because they are approved by the FDA, dispensed by pharmacies, and widely used across the nation. Such drugs do not carry the stigma that street drugs carry. Pharmaceutical companies spend many billions of dollars per year advertising their addictive substances to the masses as a way to treat various common ailments.
What people do not realize – and what doctors frequently fail to advise or explore before prescribing these medications – is the extremely addictive nature of many of these drugs and the potential for misuse and abuse that these drugs carry.
A common scenario is as follows: a patient with NO history of drug abuse is injured in a car accident and goes to see a doctor. The doctor prescribes painkillers such as oxycodone or hydrocodone to treat the person’s pain. The doctor often has little to no discussion with the patient about their previous history with alcohol and/or drugs, or history of addiction. The patient begins taking the medication and, over time, becomes chemically dependent on it. The patient develops a tolerance to the medication and, soon, requires more and more of it to feel “normal”. When the doctor either discontinues the medication, does not increase the dosage, or reduces the dosage, fearing the withdrawal effects, the patients often go out on the street looking to score the drugs illicitly. Opiate painkillers are a close chemical derivative of heroin, In recent years, we have seen many people begin using heroin instead of painkillers due to its wider availability and cheaper price.
We have seen common themes and occurrences in these cases. Prior to their arrests, many – if not most – clients that we have helped with prescription drug charges have had NO, previous criminal history whatsoever. Many are otherwise law-abiding citizens and productive members of society.
Getting to the root of the client’s problem is essential in these. We frequently employ psychologists and psychiatrists to evaluate the client for both substance issues and mental health issues. We frequently obtain placement for the client into various inpatient and outpatient drug rehabilitation programs statewide. Addiction is a disease that affects people from all walks of life and from all cross-sections of society. These are people who need HELP. Jail and prison do nothing to rehabilitate the person and fix the underlying problem.
Our firm works tirelessly not only to minimize criminal charges and penalties for our clients, but also to obtain meaningful HELP for our clients to minimize the chances that these mistakes will re-occur.
We routinely defend those accused of many types of prescription drug offenses, including all of the following:
If you or a loved one have been charged with a drug crime involving prescription drugs, you need an experienced criminal defense attorney who will explore all possible avenues in your defense. At the Canina Law Firm, our mission is to provide comprehensive representation and aggressive defense at every, single stage of our clients’ cases. Our clients are not just files in a drawer…they are PEOPLE, with real human problems that need to be solved. Our attorneys work as a TEAM to provide individualized service to our clients and to their families.
If you or someone you know has been arrested for a prescription drug crime in Brevard County or anywhere in Central Florida, please CONTACT our office today for a FREE Case Evaluation.
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1901 S. Harbor City Blvd.
Suite 804
Melbourne, Florida 32901
