The unauthorized possession of prescription drugs is no light offense in New Jersey. Laws vary from state to state, but it is universally illegal in the U.S. to have prescription medications in your possession that don’t belong to you.
Unauthorized possession as it pertains to pharmaceuticals often means that you’ve been caught with someone else’s prescription. But it’s also unauthorized possession if you have more of the medication than you’ve been prescribed. No matter what kind of medication you’ve been prescribed, the law requires you to keep track of your prescription to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.
If you’re caught with prescription drugs that you aren’t authorized to have, you can be arrested, which may leave you with drug charges on your record. There are potential financial and occupational consequences.
In some cases, a court will order you to undergo a drug treatment program. Your drug use might be monitored, and you may end up with a suspended driver’s license. There are also often court fines to deal with, which can be steep.
There are many types of pharmaceutical drugs that require a prescription to be possessed or sold legally. This prescription must come from a physician who is officially licensed to do so. Some common examples are:
There are numerous legitimate medical applications for these medications, but they are still often misused. The abuse of stimulants and depressants is particularly a problem amongst people in their late teens and early 20s.
One factor that plays into how severe you can expect the penalties to be for unauthorized possession of prescription drugs is the amount of medication in your possession. Additionally, your relative criminal history comes into play as well as the nature of the possession.
