Orange County Orange County Drug Possession & Drug Sales Attorney

Orange County Drug Lawyer

Orange County DUI Partners Lawyers defend Drug Possession and Drug Sales charges throughout the state of California, including but not limited to allegations related to marijuana possession or sales, cocaine possession and Sales, prescription medication possession and sales, Marijuana possession.

Nationally Board Certified Criminal Trial Lawyer Mr. Okorocha is a scientist and drug possession and drug sales lawyer and is the only Nationally Board Certified Criminal Trial Lawyer in the State of California with higher education in Forensic Science.

No attorney in California conducted as many trials in 2010 in Orange County and Los Angeles County combined as attorney Okorocha and no trial lawyer in California is as successful with the most difficult cases. Unlike other attorneys whose pretend to have expertise because they are former police officers or former prosecutors, who have not fought for individuals from the beginning, Orange County Drug Attorney Okorocha has always defended individuals who are accused by the government.

Mr. Okorocha has formal education in the science of drug testing which is an angle of attacking the evidence the government presents that other attorneys do not have the expertise to carry out.

Narcotics

Narcotics is the general term used to refer to prescription medications that relieve pain and induce sleep. The sale or possession of these drugs is a punishable offense under California law. Many narcotics are occur naturally in the poppy or opium plant or are synthetically produced with the same chemical structure and are thought to produce pain relief by sedation. These are substances that bring relief from pain and produce sleep. Common names of these drugs include Oxycontin, Fentanyl, Herion, Vicodin, Hydrocodone, Morphine, Dilaudid, Methadone, Tylenol 3 and Tylenol 4.

Stimulants

Stimulants include Crack, Cocaine and Amphetamine derivatives which are known to cause excitement, increased energy, suppressed appetite and sleeplessness. Stimulants can also include prescription medications such as Ritalin, Focalin, Adderall and Dexedrine.

Marijuana

The term “Marijuana” as used generally and in this article, describes the dried flowers of the female Cannabis Sativa (hereinafter referred to as (C. Sativa) Gregory T. Carter, MD, University of Washington Department of Medicine. As one of the first plants to known to humans to have medicinal and/or recreational value, C. sativa’s use can be traced back to 7,000 B.C. Mechoulam R, Feigenbaum JJ. Towards cannabinoid drugs, Prog Med Chem. 1987;24:159-207; Rudgley R. The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Substances, London, UK: Little, Brown & Co; 1998. CANNABINOID COMPOUNDS The most popular, discussed and psychoactive chemical in C. Sativa which is commonly referred to in the scientific literature as “cannabis” is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (hereinafter referred to as delta-9-THC or “THC”) . Joy JE, Watson SJ, Benson JA. Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. Washington, DC: Institute of Medicine; 1999. www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_ id=6376. Accessed July 26, 2010. The organic chemicals and their reactions involved in C. Sativa a.k.a Cannabis are highly intricate and more than 480 different compounds have been discovered. ElSohly MA, Slade D, Chemical constituents of mari-juana: the complex mixture of natural cannabinoids, Life Sci., 2005, 78:539–548 Pharmacokinetics of Marijuana The metabolism of Cannabis is lengthy and complex with numerous metabolites being formed, most of which are inactive. Watanabe K, Yamaori S, Funahashi T, et al. Cytochrome P450 enzymes involved in the metabolism of tetrahydrocannabinols and cannabinol by human hepatic microsomes. Life Sci. 2007;80:1415-1419. THC is cleared from the blood very quickly, mostly due to the absorption of THC into the fatty tissue. The subsequent slow release and metabolism contributes to the half-life in plasma being as long as thirteen (13) days. Watanabe K, Yamaori S, Funahashi T, et al. Cytochrome P450 enzymes involved in the metabolism of tetrahydrocannabinols and cannabinol by human hepatic microsomes. Life Sci. 2007;80:1415-1419. Tolerance & Dependence of Marijuana Heavy administration of cannadbinoids to animals and/or heavy use of cannabinoids by humans results to tolerance to the effects, both physical and psychoactive. Joy JE, Watson SJ, Benson JA. Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base, Washington, DC: Institute of Medicine; 1999. www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_ id=6376. Accessed July 26, 2010.

U.S. LEGAL ISSUES INVOLVING THE USE OF CANNABINOID COMPOUNDS

The use of Marijuana as a medicine has become a political issue. Marijuana used to be touted as a panacea by the unemployable masses. Their “scientific basis” for this claim is usually a recitation of the plight of many severely ill cancer patients. This article will address the published peer-reviewed information available on the uses of Marijuana as a medicine. Cannabis was not included in what was intended as a comprehensive drug regulation law enacted in 1914 commonly referred to as the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914, which regulated the sale and importation of opiates and other abused drugs. Media propaganda from approximately 1920 to 1940 portrayed Marijuana users as violent and psychotic maniacs who simply could not be controlled.

Pacula RL, Chriqui JF, Reichmann DA, Terry-McElrath YM. State medical marijuana laws: understanding the laws and their limitations. J. Public Health Policy. 2002;23:413-439. This paranoia fueled the anti-marijuana movement’s efforts to enact laws that regulated marijuana. Id. By the late 1930s most U.S. states had passed legislation regulating the use, possession and sale and marijuana. Id. The commissioner of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, Harry J. Anslinger, a former law enforcement officer, let the efforts to criminalize marijuana at the federal level. Id. The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs was a subdivision of the Commerce Department and is comparable to the modern day Drug Enforcement Administration, which is also part of the Commerce department. Anslinger fed on the fears of Americans by assuring the general public that marijuana was highly addictive and was a direct cause of violence and brain damage.

Bonnie RJ, Whitebread CH. The forbidden fruit and the tree of knowledge: an inquiry into the legal history of American marijuana prohibition. Va Law Rev. 1970;56:971-1204. www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/vlr/vlrtoc.htm. Grinspoon L.

History of cannabis as a medicine. August 16, 2005. www.maps.org/mmj/grinspoon_history_cannabis_medicine.pdf.

The Propaganda campaign and use of misinformation to capitalize on fears of Americans led to the passing of the Federal Marijuana Tax Act in 1937, which criminalized the use of marijuana. It has long been believed that the propaganda campaign undertaken by Anslinger was at the behest of the Dupont Petrochemical Company and William Randolph Hearst, amongst others, for fear that Marijuana’s legal status would lead to the hemp being an affordable replacement for fabric and paper which would have severely harmed the financial interests of the above individuals and entities. In 1970, the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act was passed and Marijuana was placed in Schedule I which currently includes drugs such as LSD, GHB and Peyote. Schedule II contains the list of drugs that are believed to be safer and pose less of a harm than Marijuana, which include Cocaine, Morphine and Opium. Title 21, Food and Drugs, Ch. 13, CSA §812(b)(1). www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/csa.html.