DRUG LAW

The defense in drug-related cases is one of the most important areas of criminal law for criminal defense attorneys, both quantitatively and, above all, because of the extremely high penalties involved in practice.

In practice, the daily work of a criminal defense attorney therefore consists of a variety of defenses against allegations of drug offenses.

This requires extensive specialist knowledge beyond knowledge of the Criminal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the fundamentals of criminal law, because the Narcotics Act raises a multitude of special problems.

The presence of a so-called “ not insignificant quantity ” mainly determines whether the criminal offenses under Sections 29a, 30 or 30a of the Narcotics Act, which carry minimum prison sentences of between 1 and 5 years, are present.

For the most important narcotics, the Federal Court of Justice has defined the “not insignificant quantity” as follows:

According to the established case law of the Federal Court of Justice, the term “trading” includes any:

"Self-serving efforts aimed at facilitating or promoting the sale of narcotics, even if it is only a one-time or merely an intermediary activity."

Particularly problematic is the offence under Section 30a of the Narcotics Act, which provides for a minimum sentence of at least 5 years.

This includes, in particular, the trafficking, importing, and exporting of narcotics in significant quantities as a member of a gang (Section 30a (1) Narcotics Act), as well as carrying a weapon while committing the offense . Case law interprets the latter characteristic particularly broadly: An intention to use the weapon is not required. Often, it is sufficient for the narcotics and weapon to be located in the same residence, as this may constitute a particular danger.

In addition to the specific provisions of Sections 29 ff. of the Narcotics Act,

contain numerous definition and demarcation problems, there are also special regulations for

• the accused who makes himself a "key witness", § 31 BtMG

• the drug addict who chooses the path of "therapy instead of punishment", §§ 35 ff. BtMG

• the drug tester or occasional user, for whom special ways of discontinuing the proceedings are available, §§ 29 para. 5, 31 a BtMG,

which are initially unfamiliar to the "normal" criminal lawyer.

Attorney Botor has been successfully practicing as a specialist in criminal law for several years in the field of drug law. Don't make any mistakes and contact a professional right away with your drug-related problem!