“I’m not sure if making more issues that are drug-related into criminal acts is the best way to solve the drug problem. Addict’s problems generally started before taking drugs, and then got worse after starting drugs,” opined Daniel H. Wannamaker of Wannamaker and Associates, an Austin, Texas, law firm.

In addition, making more laws means more police, more enforcement, more chances for the miscarriage of justice, and even greater opportunities for the abuse of human rights under the Constitution.

“Where will the money for more law enforcement come from when the nation’s deficit is staggering and we’re currently in a nasty recession?” questioned Wannamaker. The fact is the drug problem has been with us for years. “We’re only seeing more of it thanks to the drastic downturn in the economy,” Wannamaker pointed out.

“Things like marijuana, ecstasy and LSD are illegal, but so is taking prescription drugs without a prescription,” said Wannamaker. Yes, there’s a booming business through drug traffickers for prescription drugs, including some highly recognizable painkillers such as Oxycontin, Codeine and Dilaudid.

“There is also the offense of trafficking as well,” said Wannamaker. In all of this rush to codify having drugs, using drugs, selling drugs and importing drugs, an important factor usually gets overlooked. “That factor is the right of the person charged to be regarded as innocent until proven guilty,” insisted Wannamaker who knows this fact all too well since he is a board certified criminal defense lawyer.

“We cannot, as a nation, override people’s constitutional rights and assume they are automatically guilty of a crime if they had some “weed” or whatever in their possession. Things are not always what they appear to be, and that is why we have criminal defense attorneys – to defend people’s inalienable rights,” said Wannamaker.