Like any other state, it is highly prohibited to keep possession of illegal drugs in Virginia. The drug laws in Virginia also prohibits distribution of drugs in the state. Carrying or distributing the drugs with the prescription, but not to the person who’s prescribed, is also an offense and an illegal activity. These cases are taken very seriously throughout the State by Commonwealth. Getting penalties or charged for keeping drug possession or distribution, depends on the type of drug or if the guilty person had a prescription or not. Penalties fully depend on violation of the law.
Usual OffensesView post
The most common drug crime in Virginia is keeping the marijuana. It mostly happens when the cops find an unusual traffic activity and find the driver with the possession of marijuana or finding the driver intoxicated. The second usual offense in Virginia is keeping the possession of marijuana. It takes a lot of time to discover these distributors. Mostly, anyone from Police department plays an important role in it by faking themselves as a buyer and then leading towards the capture of the person who sold it. Police Department then try to capture distributors through the guilty person as much as they can.
Not only Marijuana, keeping possession of more severe and serious drugs can be seen on Virginia’s streets. In the last few years, there has been a major increase in heroin and other serious drugs cases.
Possession of Drugs
There are two different types of possession cases in Virginia Code. One of them is; actual possession, and the other one is; constructive possession. In actual possession, Police find the drugs in the hands of the accused person or in the car or whatever vehicle they are driving. Whereas, in constructive possession, even if police find the drug in the car, but if the car belongs to someone else, the person who’s driving will not get the penalty directly. When it comes to court, the most common question asked after constructive possession case is whether the accused person had the information of the drug or not. Being near to the drug or any illegal substance or being in the vehicle where any illegal substance is found, it is not enough to prove whether you are guilty of committing a crime or not.
Penalties
Penalties for keeping possession of drugs or for distributing it are very severe. There are different scheduling sections for the drug offenders. Schedule I applies when the person is found with the possession or distribution of Heroin or LSD. Since they both are dangerous for human in medical terms, they are marked as Schedule I offense which means $2,500 fine or 10 years in prison. Schedule II has the same penalty, but the listed drugs can be medically used such as methamphetamine, etcetera. Schedule III drugs have same penalties like Schedule I and II, including Codeine. Schedule III has same $2,500 fine and same imprisonment. Schedule IV includes Valium and Zanax and its penalties six months in prison or $1000. Schedule V has cough syrups and another misuse of medicines, if it falls into violation of drug law, then it will put $500 of fine. Keeping marijuana can cost you $500 or a month in jail, and if you are found guilty again with the same charge, then the penalty will be $2,500 or 1 year in jail or both.