Columbus Criminal Defense Lawyer for Young Clients in Alcohol and Drug Cases
If there is a strength within our alcohol and other drug practice, it is working with high school and college kids. Our Columbus criminal defense lawyers have the ability to reach our younger clients and effect behavioral change, better judgment while getting a taste of real-world consequences for bad decision-making.
Drug paraphernalia, marijuana possession, underage drinking, and felony charges populate our practice. If you want a more intensive handling of your son or daughter’s criminal case that increases the chances of diversion, dismissal, or reduction in charges, then our firm may be what you need. We represent teens arrested through drug testing in high schools, as well as out-of-school arrests.
Most juvenile court systems treat drug and alcohol violations about the same. First offenders can expect a drug or alcohol program, a license suspension of 6 months and up, a fine, and probation with a probation officer as well as random urine screens. The collateral consequences are significant. What hits your child’s record is a conviction / adjudication that may impact federal student loans, the military, and pre-employment background checks. In the event they re-offend, it just gets worse.
Our typical plan lasts 90-120 days and consists of the following conditions:
- We let him/her know bluntly that they are done experimenting with drugs/alcohol. Game over.
- They just forfeited any privacy to their cell phone, computer, room, car and other personal property.
- They are now subject to random professional drug testing (not the CVS kits that are easily beaten)
- A curfew is now imposed – 10:00pm, every night.
- These restrictions can be stepped down based upon 100% compliance with our terms as well as an attitude adjustment consistent with remorse and maturity.
For a free legal consultation with a high school & college lawyer serving Columbus, call 614-884-1100
What We Do For Families
What we do for our families that we represent is impose pre-court conditions (a-e above plus any extras that make sense based upon our interview of the young client). Our investigator and lawyers supervise the client through random urines, parent-reporting, and a GPS tracker on the vehicle (if the parents want it) with a real time interface that the clients can access online (bread crumb trails, geo fencing, speed history, stop time history).
We then leverage this program into a Diversion with the court to keep the client’s record clean. The goal of all this? If the client passes our program and the prosecutor agrees to dismiss the charge. Clearly, prosecutor’s are under no obligation to dismiss any charges or agree to diversion.
Columbus High School & College Lawyer Near Me 614-884-1100
Juveniles and Crime
From underage drinking and possession of alcohol to drug possession and DUI, there are a variety of factors that have been determined to affect young people and crime, including the youthful desire to experiment. Parents need to be reminded that the normal adolescent development includes rebellion, experimentation, and rejection of parental values. Just as toddlers exhibit an awkward gait while learning to walk, teens will clumsily try to become an adult on their own terms. Typically, we see this start around freshman year of high school and really take a life of its own in the junior and senior years of high school.
Click to contact our Columbus Criminal Defense Lawyers today
ADD and ADHD Involvement
It should also be noted that kids with ADD/ADHD, depression, and learning differences are at an increased risk of being charged with a crime. This is attributable to lack of impulse control or mood management with alcohol and other drugs. Teens who take Ritalin, Adderall, or some of the other stimulants to battle ADD/ADHD may stop taking it because they do not like how it makes them feel. Many parents have mixed feelings about medicating their kids to begin with. As a result, teens who stop taking their prescriptions jump to alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs to feel “happy” or “normal.”
Unfortunately, in many cases, what was probably a one-time incident or lapse in judgment becomes a criminal case. It is important that the punishment is commensurate with the crime, and in many cases the lesson is learned by the time the arrest and booking procedure is completed. In cases of juvenile arrests or the arrest of college students for a drug crime or mischievous act, it is necessary to contact a Columbus criminal lawyer for students to assist with the case and fight for alternative sentencing.
Complete a Free Case Evaluation form now
ADD / ADHD & TEEN USE
For young adults with ADD or ADHD, medications may be given by a physician or pediatrician to help with their hyperactive behavior. When taken off medications, they often turn to drugs or alcohol to get the same feeling they once had on medication.
AFFLUENCE & TEEN USE
Over the years, the availability of drugs and alcohol, especially in affluent communities, has been considered to be “chronic.” Even for a first time underage drug or alcohol offender, the consequences can last a long time. It’s important to reverse these habits young.
About Affluence & Teen Use [+]
ALCOHOL & TEENS
These days, alcohol is readily available for teens all throughout the state of Ohio. While strict laws regulate the legal drinking age, many underage teenagers choose to consume alcohol or drugs for a variety of reasons, all of which have serious consequences.
MARIJUANA & TEENS
As a very controversial topic today, the use of marijuana for any purpose is strictly banned by the federal government, making it a serious offense for any person to use, sell, give away or traffic marijuana. Used by many teens in Ohio, law enforcement has been cracking down.
Contact a Columbus Criminal Lawyer
If your son or daughter has become involved with the law, it is crucial that they get the legal counsel that can help them from a juvenile defense lawyer, and with the assistance of the parents, guide them through the legal process and hopefully avoid a criminal record. Each case has specific circumstances and details and must be fully analyzed by the attorney in order to provide you with the strategy that will be used to protect your child.
With guidance and legal counsel from KBN, every effort will be made to help the young person avoid the same mistake in the future, and to assist in seeking alternative sentencing in some cases, plea bargains in others, and in any possible case, a dismissal of the charges, based on the circumstances of the case. You can rest assured that the attorney cares and will make the case a priority.
Call or text 614-884-1100 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
