San Antonio Prescription Drugs Attorney

Interviewer: What about legal or prescription drug cases? How are those handled?

Gary Churak: If you’ve got prescription for the drug, then you’re not in violation of the law.

Interviewer: What if you have someone else’s prescription?

Gary Churak: Well, that’s a problem. That is called obtaining drugs by fraud.  That is a felony. That’s a third-degree felony and you can get in trouble for that.

Interviewer: Are people generally aware that having someone else’s prescription is a problem?

Gary Churak: Yes, a lot of it has to do with oxy and other pain medications people are addicted to. Often times, people are trying to figure out how to get a prescription for that particular drug. I’ve had situations where people who were addicted to oxycodone, taking 15 to 20 pills a day because they developed such tolerance to it. They needed that much just to be able to survive their addiction. That’s the main thing that you see in prescription fraud cases. They’re looking for the medication drug and oxy is usually the one of preference.

Addiction

Interviewer: What are some common misconceptions that people have with drug cases?

Gary Churak: It’s only marijuana, it’s not hurting me, I’m not addicted, I don’t need treatment.  A lot of it’s in denial about drug use. No one is motivated for treatment until they get arrested. Then, at that point they’re not motivated for any kind of rehabilitation treatment, just in-patient. Nine out of ten drug users will repeat or screw up with their probation because they continue to use drugs.

Interviewer: What are some of the things clients will do to hurt their case, either intentionally or unintentionally?

Gary Churak: I’ve had people who have been arrested for a drug case, then they were bonded out, and then proceeded to get arrested again for a drug case from a different time. People who get out on probation continue to use drugs and get their probation revoked. People that are addicted continue to use drugs and that’s a problem. The terms and conditions of the probation says “thou shall not use drugs or thou shall take UA’s every time he’s come in here and if you come in hot you’re in trouble”. Repeat usage after they were already arrested or put on probation is the main problem.

Interviewer: You mentioned UAs, do they also get hair follicle test?

Gary Churak: They don’t do hair follicle test, just because of the nature of it, it costs too much. Most probation departments will use just the UA test.

Rehabilitation

Interviewer: What are some things that will help someone’s case?

Gary Churak: Rehabilitation. If you can get into a rehab facility and complete the program on your dime versus having be court-ordered to do it. I think that’s a plus. It shows your willingness to recognize your issues and resolve your problems. It is definitely a plus with the court systems and judges that you acknowledge you have an issue or a problem, you go ahead and take care of it. Like I said, that’s a big thing. I think, to acknowledge that you have an addiction is major.