Club drugs (or party drugs) are a group of synthetic drugs typically used in night clubs and house parties. These drugs are usually created in home labs, garages, and basements, using many different types of chemicals. Because of their homemade nature, it is very difficult to predict how strong what their effects will be. Popular Synthetic Club Drugs The following are the most commonly used club drugs for which a person might encounter punishment from law enforcement. Ecstasy (also known...

You get an email from an old college buddy whom you have not seen in ages. He is in town on business and invites you to a backyard barbecue hosted by a mutual friend. You eagerly reply that you will see him there! With the long Labor Day holiday weekend ahead, you are looking forward to kicking back and relaxing with close friends. That Sunday, you hop in your car and drive to your friend’s place, excited for what should...

Marijuana users—recreational and medicinal—are being caught in the legal web of changing state and federal laws. While the use of marijuana is legal in states such as Colorado and California, other states have strictly banned the use of the drug. For some, the rewards of choosing their own personal lifestyle outweigh the risks of being caught. Still, in Illinois, if you are caught using or possessing recreational marijuana, there are consequences that range from probation to serious jail time. In...

As much as we strive to have schools as a safe place for our children, drug use and sales in our schools are a sad reality. Drug use and drug arrests of students can have long lasting effects on the lives of the individuals involved, but the use and arrests are not confined to the just the students. One afternoon, dozens of Lake Central High School students crowded around the front entrance of the school building clapping and jeering as...

You have just been arrested. You have been charged with a crime. Now your entire future is at stake. Not only can being arrested and sent to jail lead to feelings of great anxiety and hopelessness, but a conviction can have ramifications in every area of your life, from work, to housing, to your career. Fortunately, the process of taking back your freedom happens soon after you are arrested, and an experienced criminal defense attorney is key to preserving the...

It has been almost 50 years since Dirty Harry hit the big screen in 1971. In this scene, loose canon crimefighter Harry Callaghan meets with the San Francisco District Attorney and an appeals court judge. They inform a discombobulated Harry that the evidence he seized from a suspected serial killer would be inadmissible in court. Criminal defense has changed a lot since then. Today, the search warrant rule is much more prosecutor-friendly than it was back then. In fact, the...

The key crime statistics for the last weekend of July included 74 shootings, 12 fatalities, zero arrests (so far), and lots of excuses. What does the spike mean for criminal defendants in Cook County and elsewhere? In a press conference, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson essentially blamed community members for not coming forward with information to police. “You all know who these individuals are,” an exasperated Johnson claimed. Other officials blamed “gangs” and gun owners for...

The plot thickens as police officers take the information they learned and try to get search warrants for the homes of Kevin, James, and Paul. The judge approves limited warrants for Kevin and Paul’s house. They live together and there is at least some evidence against both of them (Paul sold Vicodin to Sarah and Kevin was connected with the “doctor” who over prescribed pills.) But the police simply have to follow James until they find him breaking a law...

Now, we come to the exciting conclusion of this gripping saga. In reality, plea bargains resolve about 90% of criminal cases. So, in many situations, the end is rather anticlimactic, at least from a Hollywood perspective. Let’s assume that prosecutors dropped the drug possession charges against James’ girlfriend Vicki. After all, the evidence was very, very weak. That leaves us with the Three Musketeers. There are some issues with the evidence, which may warrant a trial. Then again, our three...

For the next few posts, let’s consider the fictional plight of James, Kevin, and Paul. These three guys are all high school teachers in their 30s. Teaching has many advantages, but it is also rather predictable and, sometimes, a little dull. The Three Amigos yearn for a little more adventure. Plus, they got hooked on old Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous reruns on Hulu, and they want to find a way to expand their incomes. They soon begin altering...

Since this is a criminal defense blog, we all knew that was only a matter of time before Kevin, Paul, and James have to face the music. But a lot of things must happen first. Sarah is a new teacher at the school and her back is killing her. As she vents to a colleague about the fact that her doctor cut off her Vicodin, her colleague mentions that there is a guy from the math department who may have...

The best way to permanently bury a criminal record in drug cases is an expungement or sealing proceeding. But such procedures are not available to everyone. The law usually limits expungement and sealing to persons with no criminal record and certain types of criminal prosecutions. Moreover, there is usually a waiting period 2 years after successful completion of deferred prosecution to begin the expungement process and of up to five years on some types of cases. Because of these drawbacks,...

Relief from a prior drug conviction is a common feature of many marijuana legalization pushes, and also one of the most attractive features of these initiatives. Currently, marijuana is a controlled substance under both state and federal law. Any conviction is serious business. Typically, the record does not specify the type of substance. So, many people assume that when they see a drug conviction on your record is for something much stronger, like LSD or cocaine. Partially in response to...

State lawmakers recently approved a measure that would not only allow people to substitute medical marijuana for their opioid prescriptions, but also streamline the medical marijuana process. If the governor signs the bill, it may increase the confusion with regard to drug laws in this area. Since 2011, opioid overdoses have killed over 11,000 people in Illinois. Marijuana overdoses have killed zero people over that same time period. While marijuana’s side-effects continue to be hotly debated, “Opioids kill people, and...

There is a growing undercurrent in Illinois law that possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use is not a major crime. In fact, there is a growing body of evidence that marijuana arrests serve no useful purpose and simply soak up law enforcement resources. The other side of this equation is that the fines that courts collect from marijuana arrests, and the probation cases these arrests engender, help keep many criminal justice systems financially afloat. However, everyone can...