Tough Times Call For Tough Representation

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Prescription Pills and Teenagers

On Behalf of | Mar 15, 2012 | Criminal Defense |

There may be nothing harder than getting through to a teenager who is addicted to pills.  Oxycodone is synthetic heroin.  It does not matter how affluent your family is, heroin is heroin, and it is the ultimate monkey on the back of any person.  Couple that with raw immaturity, and the normal teenage sense of invincibility, and you have a parent’s worst nightmare.  These are becoming the criminal defense attorney’s worst nightmare.  The intensity of treatment required in these cases is beyond most parent’s means.  The State is having trouble funding free Court placements into programs where beds are available.  Nothing is safe in the family home.  I just advised a parent who just experienced the “first” of the thefts, to change the locks, remove the jewelry from the home, and install an alarm.  Another parent experienced this over and over again, even after charging the child with theft, and the Court finally revoked the client’s recognizance for multiple positive drug tests while on pretrial release.  Sadly, this may be the only way to keep the client alive.  Psychiatrist say that some of these kids get as much of a high from the stealing as they do from the use of the drug.  It also helps explain why these kids tell their parents that they never considered the importance or sentimentality of the piece of jewelry to the parent.  Their is a complete disconnect from conscience. The choice between a criminal record and an overdose death is a choice no parent should ever have to make.  The attorney is placed in the position of trying to save the client’s life, and deal with the criminal fallout later.  If you have not experienced this, you may think this is over dramatic.  If you have, you know this little Blog grossly understates the way your life has been upended.