You’ve been charged with a drug offense. The shock of it all can take you aback, leaving you afraid and unsure of what to do next.
This uncertainty can be overwhelming, especially if you’ve never been charged with a criminal offense, you don’t know what to expect from the process, and the penalties being threatened against you are significant.
Although it can be hard to stop thinking about the drug charges that have been levied against you and the consequences they might bring, there are steps that you can take to try to make it easier to cope with the allegations. Let’s take a closer look.
How to cope with pending drug charges
Everyone is different. Therefore, there’s no one way to ease the stress of being charged with a drug offense. That said, here are some tips that might take some stress off your shoulders and help you focus on the road ahead:
- Address your current obligations: The world isn’t going to slow down just because you’ve been accused of criminal wrongdoing. As a result, you’re going to have to stay current on your work, financial, and family obligations. Make sure someone can take care of your children or your parents if there’s a likelihood that you’ll be incarcerated, even if on a short-term basis. Also, budget for your legal expenses, ensuring that you still have a way to cover your daily living costs. And, despite the charges being lobbed at you, do your best to maintain employment so that you’ve got income rolling in.
- Don’t try to control everything: There’s a lot in the legal process that’s outside of your control. Try not to stress over that too much, and instead take comfort in knowing that your attorney will take care of those issues.
- Accept uncertainty: One of the most stressful parts of being charged with a crime is not knowing what’s going to happen. But that’s part of the process. You’ll need to accept that you can’t read the future, which can be a scary thought. But don’t let your fears paralyze you. Rather, use the uncertainty you’re facing as a motivating factor to develop contingency plans so that your obligations are covered regardless of what happens.
- Know that this will pass: There’s no doubt that you’re in a stressful position. Even though it might feel like the process is taking forever to play out, know that it will eventually come to an end. And, even if you’re convicted, there will come a time when you’ve paid your debt to society, and you can then put the matter behind you.
- Find defense strategies: You might feel boxed in by the prosecution right now, but you and your attorney can analyze the facts of your case to find the strongest criminal defense strategies to deploy in your set of circumstances. Depending on your situation, this might give you hope of avoiding the harshest penalties being threatened against you or even beating the charges outright.
Be ready to fight the criminal charges you’re facing
As you try to find a way to get a handle on the gut punch of being charged with a drug offense, you’ll also have to focus on building your criminal defense. The earlier you can start this process, the better. After all, you’ll want to be thorough in assessing the physical evidence and witness testimony, as well as finding case law and evidentiary arguments to help support your position.
Building your criminal defense might be stressful, but we think you’ll find a sense of comfort by going into your case with legitimately persuasive arguments on your side. Perhaps then you’ll even be able to beat the prosecution and keep the future that you envision for yourself and your family.
