Minor Drugs, Major Buzzkill

While having a few tokes now and then and maybe growing a bit of
weed in the garden amongst the tomatoes is "cool man," be aware that
even something that is seemingly relatively insignificant on the
surface may dog a person for the rest of their natural lives.

"Drug offenses, even small ones, have a habit of hanging around for years, if not permanently," said Daniel H. Wannamaker of Wannamaker Law
in Austin, Texas. Wannamaker would definitely know what he's talking
about since one of his major areas of practice deals with defending
drug offenses. "I see this kind of thing happening all the time, a
simple possession charge spiraling out of control and the person gets
slammed," added Wannamaker.

Wannamaker has an extensive record as a board certified criminal
defense lawyer and knows immediately how to handle the various cases
brought to him. "Don't assume that just because it is a "dinky" amount
of weed or whatever drug you may have been busted for, that the
consequences may not be more than you bargained for," explained
Wannamaker. Having said that, Wannamaker's role in defending someone
charged with a drug offense is to mitigate the charges, get them thrown
out, mitigate the penalties, or get the case thrown out of court.

Even a charge for a small amount of drugs may become the albatross
that stuck around in a most unwelcome manner. Drug charges that stick
and leave one with a criminal record of any kind will look really bad
on an employment application. Even if the crime is not admitted to on
the job application, if the position requires bonding of some sort, the
lie will be discovered.

"People, meaning employers, are less tolerant these days of others
who have a criminal record, even a minor one," indicated Wannamaker.
Really, why take the chance of having a charge stick when hiring a
highly qualified criminal defense attorney may make the difference
between having no criminal record and a job, and having a criminal
record and no job?

"If you think this is a bit far fetched, employers avoiding those
with criminal backgrounds, then ask this question – if it's not a big
deal, then why are more and more employers running background checks on
potential new employees?" questioned Wannamaker.

The answer of course is because they cannot risk hiring someone who
has a record to represent their company. It simply wouldn't do if a
crisis situation came up and that employee's criminal record came to
light. "This kind of a situation is called negligent hiring and it can
bite someone in the pocketbook later when a lawsuit is filed," added
Wannamaker.

If faced with being charged for a drug offense, hire a top-notch
criminal defense lawyer who knows what they are doing. Quality is the
key word here when looking for a lawyer that knows their stuff. Quality
is a bit like ordering oats. If you want them clean and fresh and top
quality, you must pay a fair price.

Daniel
Wannamaker is a board certified criminal law specialist and has 24
years of criminal trial experience with proven results as a Dallas
criminal defense lawyer practicing in Austin criminal defense and
Houston Texas. To learn more about Dallas criminal defense lawyer, Houston criminal defense lawyer, Austin criminal defense lawyer, visit Wannamakerlaw.com.