Drug Offence

Possession of any amount of narcotic is a criminal offence in Canada, and can have serious ramifications on factors such as employment and the ability to travel. Drug charges are criminal charges by virtue of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. The prosecutors responsible for these offences are a separate group of lawyers working for the Department of Justice who vigorously prosecute drug charges. You owe it to yourself to hire a Toronto drug lawyer who is skilled at defending these types of charges. This frequently involves challenging the lawfulness of vehicle searches, random pat down searches, searches incident to arrest, as well as the validity of search warrants and wiretap authorizations. Toronto drug lawyer Graham Zoppi will put forward all available defences to help you avoid the hardships of a conviction for a drug offence.

Being convicted of simple possession of narcotics can significantly impact your ability to travel as well as future career opportunities. Hiring a top Toronto drug lawyer is the only way to avoid the stigma of a drug conviction. Graham Zoppi is an experienced Toronto drug lawyer who has successfully represented clients with possession charges as well as more serious charges such as possession for the purpose of trafficking and production. Graham Zoppi will engage in a detailed review of your disclosure in order to be able to put forth all available defences regarding both the sufficiency and admissabiity of the Crown’s evidence. Toronto drug lawyer Graham Zoppi regularly defends narcotics charges by way of application to exclude the seized drugs because of unlawful search and seizure. He has also had clients acquitted by attacking the Crown’s evidence and establishing that possession is not proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

In order for the Crown to establish criminal liability for this offence, it must prove both: a) possession and b) that possession was for the purpose of trafficking. The Crown can try and prove the intent to traffic by various circumstantial forms of evidence, such as : the manner in which the drugs are packaged, the amount of drugs present, whether paraphernalia associated with trafficking such as weigh scales are located, etc.

Toronto drug lawyer Graham Zoppi defends this charge by attacking the Crown`s evidence on both elements of the offence. Even where there is strong evidence of possession, this charge can still be challenged on the basis of insufficient evidence of intent to traffic. In some cases, it can be argued that a “middleman” on a transaction is simply an agent for a purchaser. To effectively pursue defences such as these, you owe it to yourself to contact Toronto drug lawyer Graham Zoppi.

The production of narcotics can refer either to physical laboratories where drugs like methamphetamines are created, or to marijuana growing operations. This offence is widely viewed as serious criminal activity that warrants significant deterrant sentences from the court. Indeed, this offence is one for which the Federal Government has recently proposed mandatory minimum jail sentences. A thorough defence of these charges requires extreme scrutiny of the police investigation. In cases where the police have engaged in unlawful search and seizure, Toronto drug lawyer Graham Zoppi will aggressively pursue the exclusion of evidence.