While drug cases tend to be fact-specific, prosecutors also have considerable leeway when it comes to the charges they file. Some suspects may think that they are being charged with simple drug possession, only to find out later that they face charges of possession...
Drug Charges
Drug case seeks to challenge America’s disparate marijuana laws
There is little doubt that American attitudes are changing about drug use and drug laws. This is especially true of marijuana, which President Obama has even defended as safer than alcohol. Tired of waiting for the federal government to act, many states have begun...
Big thinkers advocating for an end to the war on drugs
What would Wisconsin look like if drugs were decriminalized? What would the United States or the rest of the world look like? For decades, proponents of increasingly strict anti-drug laws have been warning that the decriminalization of drugs would essentially lead to...
Non-violent federal drug offenders offered presidential clemency
America’s war on drugs has last lasted for decades with no clear winner and an unacceptable number of casualties. The consequences can still be seen and felt here in Wisconsin and in every other state. But now, as public attitudes about drug use and abuse continue to...
WI underage drinkers might get immunity for reporting alcohol OD
Last month, we wrote that Wisconsin legislators have been working to pass bills that could significantly reduce the number of overdose deaths from street drugs such as heroin. The rate of fatal heroin overdoses has risen sharply nationwide in recent years.Last...
Wisconsin lawmakers consider bill to prevent fatal drug overdoses
Heroin has always been a dangerous and deadly drug. But in recent years, overdose deaths have increased significantly here in Wisconsin and around the country. Experts say that this due, in part, to stronger and purer forms of heroin coming into the United States via...
Crack vs. cocaine: Correcting America’s drug sentencing problems
While the criminal justice system was designed to be fair and predictable, it does not always live up to this goal. This is especially true when it comes to the sentencing rules and guidelines for federal drug offenses. Drug laws have become exponentially stricter...
Woman challenges Wisconsin’s ‘Cocaine Mom’ law
In Wisconsin, a law exists that is referred to both as a fetal protection law and as a cocaine mom law. In essence, this law compels pregnant women deemed to have a severe degree of drug dependency to ingest anti-addiction drugs and/or spend time in chemical...
WI drug overdose death puts deferred prosecution program in question
Last week, we wrote that the rise in drug deaths is prompting Wisconsin prosecutors to crack down on those who supply drugs to victims who later die by fatal overdose. A recent article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel provides an important follow-up to that post.It...
Wisconsin man faces criminal charges after drug overdose death
Drug overdose deaths are becoming more common in America's large cities and suburbs. One reason for this trend is that street drugs such as heroin have become more potent and "pure" in recent years. Additionally, certain prescription drugs used to treat street-drug...