Question

there are a large number of cases in the court system today. a lot of them are drug cases and the number of court cases be reduced by allowing low-level drug cases such as first offenses be handled by a ticket rather than a formal charges and a court hearing?

Answer 1

The above statement can be applied when the drug involved holds the minimum legal repercussions.

There are five schedules of drugs, i.e. it is categories in four different sections having a different level of legal actions.

Schedule I: Substances with a high potential for abuse and no medically recognized purpose.

• Heroin.
• LSD.
• Marijuana.
• Peyote.
• MDMA/Ecstasy.

Possessing these drugs are completely illegal and involve crime at multiple levels to reach the person possessing it.

So, even at first offence, the case cannot be taken care of by just a ticket.

Schedule II: Drugs that have approved medical uses but still pose a high potential for abuse and dependence.

• Cocaine.
• Many opioid pain medications like Vicodin, OxyContin, and methadone.
• Methamphetamine.
• Prescription stimulant medications like Adderall and Ritalin.

Having the said drugs also involves the above penalties as there is a risk of abuse involved and obtaining them are illegal without medical approval.

Schedule III: Medications and substances with a lower risk of abuse and dependence than drugs in Schedule II.

• Tylenol with codeine.
• Ketamine.
• Steroids.

Schedule IV: Medications with a low risk of abuse and dependence.

• Soma.
• Many benzodiazepines like Xanax and Ativan.
• Tramadol.

Schedule V: Drugs with the lowest risk.

• Lyrica.
• Cough medications containing low codeine levels.

So, the medications having the lower and lowest risk of any kind of abuse can be handled by the way suggested in the question to reduce the number of cases in Court but it cannot be applied to highly risky drugs which are a danger to the person and the society.

Thus, laws can be amended for the same as it will definitely help the court.