Louisiana Drug Offenses

Common Drug Offenses in Louisiana

Drug charges can range from simple misdemeanors to multi-jurisdictional federal felonies. Whatever your specific case may be, just having an arrest on your record is a serious legal matter that carries repercussions for your future. Eric Johnson has handled dozens of criminal drug cases throughout his career, including:

• Drug possession
• Drug possession with intent to distribute
• Possession of drug paraphernalia
• Drug distribution
• Drug cultivation and manufacturing
• Drug trafficking
• Prescription drug offenses

Allow Eric to carve a strong defense for you by collecting and examining all the evidence against you, negotiating with prosecutors and judges, gathering witnesses, and doing all that it takes to produce the best possible outcome.

Drug Classification

The consequences you can face for a drug crime in Louisiana are largely determined by the type and quantity of the drug in question. The government ranks drugs based on their abuse potential and their medical use. There are five “schedules” in which all drugs are categorized; drugs placed in the upper schedules are more tightly controlled, meaning that the potential penalties for offenses involving these drugs are particularly harsh.

Schedule I

Schedule I substances generally have a high potential for abuse and no recognized medical use. Perhaps the most controversial substance in Schedule I is marijuana, for which there is little evidence to suggest a high abuse potential, but much evidence to show that it contains medicinal value. Other drugs in Schedule I are:

• Heroin
• MDMA (Ecstasy)
• LSD
• Synthetic marijuana

Schedule II

Schedule II substances have limited medical applications and a high abuse potential. Examples include:

• Morphine
• Methadone
• Hydrocodone (Vicodin)
• Oxycodone (OxyContin, Percocet)
• Cocaine
• Fentanyl
• Methamphetamine (Desoxyn)
• Methylphenidate (Ritalin)
• Amphetamine (Adderall)
• Pentobarbital

Schedule III

Schedule III substances have a lower abuse potential than Schedule I or II drugs, and have more accepted medical uses. These include:

• Secobarbital
• Ketamine
• Anabolic steroids

Schedule IV and V

Schedules in the bottom categories have many medical applications and mild abuse potential. Schedule IV substances include medications like Ambien, Valium, and Xanax. Schedule V substances have an even lower potential for abuse than those in Schedule IV and have many accepted medical uses.