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Legal Talk

Legal Talk

Author: Fawzia Khan
Date: 2016-07-08
As the scourge of illegal drugs and other narcotics continues to plague our societies, the youth remain vulnerable targets for the drug dealers. Empowering the youth with information is key to ensuring that they do not become victims of drug abuse. Drug addiction in all forms, whether it is illegal drugs or prescription medications such as pain killer tablets, cough syrups, or alcohol addiction, cuts across all sectors of society. It is not restricted to a particular race, gender, colour, or social class or even religion. In my practice I have seen countless number of cases where marriages have broken down, and families torn apart because of the drug or alcohol addiction of one or sometimes even both spouses. Surprisingly there are a number of married couples (mostly young couples) that have also fallen prey to such drug addiction. This trend appears to be rising at an alarmingly rate. Off course many of these people would insist that they are not addicted to the drugs. They see taking these so called 'recreation' drugs such as ecstasy tablets, 'coke', 'cat' or dagga as really harmless fun, arguing that this is the way to relieve work pressure. Taking an illegal drug or such substance means that you are breaking the law. Should the police find you in possession of illegal drugs, the law is unlikely to show much mercy. If the police arrest you for being in possession of drugs, the investigating officer will take you into custody. You will be taken to the police station and held in the police cells until you are charged or bail is granted to you. The police can keep you in custody for up to 48 hours before charging you. You have the right to apply for bail and to contact your attorney. You do not need to give a statement at that stage. If you are found to be in possession of a small quantity of drugs, you are likely to be granted bail. If it is within the discretionary powers of the investigating officer to grant you bail, you will probably be allowed to pay a small bail amount. If not, then you will have to wait for the court to formally convene to see whether or not bail will be granted to you. If you unfortunate enough to be arrested over the weekend, expect to remain incarcerated in the police cells until Monday morning before a bail application can be considered. To make matters worse, it's not uncommon for the State to oppose the granting of bail. If this happens, the State could even request the court to adjourn your case for a longer period to allow them more time for investigation into the charges. If the quantity of drugs is sufficiently high, you could also face a charge of 'dealing' in drugs. Depending on the amount of drugs found in your possession, will determine what type of conviction you would face. The greater the quantity of drugs found, the higher the penalty. If a group of people are found in possession of drugs, a charge of 'joint possession' could be made and all people in the group would face criminal charges. For that reason, a person should be highly vigilant when socialising with or keeping company with those individuals who are likely to be using or dealing in drugs. If convicted, you will face either a hefty fine coupled with a suspended sentence or face immediate imprisonment. In addition, and probably the most damaging of all is the impact that such a criminal conviction will have on you for the rest of your life as the criminal record remains in force for life. This could seriously and negatively affect almost all aspects of your life, including what professions or careers are available to you, your ability to travel or live abroad, memberships to certain organisations to name but a few. Know your rights.


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