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NJ pot laws?
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| Haunted |
anyone have, or know someone who has, been arrested for pot?
i got arrested tonight, smoked in car, and cop pulled me over for stupid bs. smelled the pot, found the roach. i was with my bud and took the blame, he got off. got charged with improper turn, possion of marijuana under 50 grams (its a disorderly persons offense in NJ), and being under the influence controlled dangerous substance.
i'm thinking of pleading guilty, because the cop told me i probably won't lose my license and to "work with him" that he will try to lower it the best he can, i've never been in trouble.
so im wondering if you guys have any clue what might happen/advice |
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| jerZ07002 |
It all depends on where in NJ. If this all happened down the shore, you can expect the process to be a little tougher than elsewhere. Cops are dicks down there. If this happened somewhere up north, the whole process might be easier.
Best advice is to be nice in the whole process. DON'T be a dick at all, that doesn't help. However, I am always hesitant of someone who gives a ticket, and then says, "I'll help you." If he truly cared about helping you, he wouldn't have given the ticket in the first place. Still, be nice to the *r, he is the one who suggests penalties to the prosecutor, and suggest whether to dismiss charges. So, unless you get a lawyer, it goes a long way to be nice.
That being said, unless you posted the charges incorrectly, it doesn't look like any of your charges carry a license suspension anyway. Generally a license suspension results from a driving violation. The charge that would normally do it is 'driving while intoxicated.' However, if you possession charge is actually "Drug possession by motor vehicle operator" (NJSA 39:4-49.1) than that caries a 2 year suspension. Fortunately, it doesn't look like you have one of those.
Here's my advice:
1. Don't plead guilty unless they are dropping another charge. The whole point of pleading guilty is to make the job of the prosecutor easier, so they should be helping you out when you plead guilty.
2. If you go to college and receive federal financial aid, or expect to receive financial aid, DON'T plead guilty to the possession charge. That would result in you losing your federal financial aid (pell grants, work study, stafford loans, etc...) for 1 year. If you tell the prosecutor and cop that you'll lose your financial aid from a possession conviction, he/she should sympathize, and unless they're heartless bastards, it will probably be dropped.
3. Lastly, just a comment. Don't be intimidated.
Good luck. |
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| edubbz |
speaking from experience; since you said youve never gotten into trouble, im assuming this is your first arrest. taken that into consideration, if you are convicted of the charges- they will hit you with an ACD (being that this is your first offense), which means if you stay out of trouble for a year the charge will "eventually" get dismissed!
as for me, after that year passed by- my financial aid wasnt affected at all, i got a pretty decent job (and not no ty one)- a job where they did full cavity background check (fingerprints and all out the ass type check-up ). i guess the charge was dropped cause it hasnt come back to haunt me since.
then again these are some things that differ from my case than yours: i got busted by a DT, i wasnt driving- got caught outside, and this happened in NYC not NJ!
another thing- like above, dont be intimidated. its not that serious! |
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| DJ_Lord |
well if u were planning on becoming the next president, i guess you're outta luck my friend..
:clown: :disbelief :disbelief :disbelief |
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| jerZ07002 |
| quote: | Originally posted by edubbz
speaking from experience; since you said youve never gotten into trouble, im assuming this is your first arrest. taken that into consideration, if you are convicted of the charges- they will hit you with an ACD (being that this is your first offense), which means if you stay out of trouble for a year the charge will "eventually" get dismissed!
as for me, after that year passed by- my financial aid wasnt affected at all, i got a pretty decent job (and not no ty one)- a job where they did full cavity background check (fingerprints and all out the ass type check-up ). i guess the charge was dropped cause it hasnt come back to haunt me since.
then again these are some things that differ from my case than yours: i got busted by a DT, i wasnt driving- got caught outside, and this happened in NYC not NJ!
another thing- like above, dont be intimidated. its not that serious! |
NYC is a lot different from Jersey. Small drug possession is nothing in the city. In jersey, small offenses like that are the life blood of some small towns (along with property taxes). Hundreds of dollars in fines multiplied by hundreds of offenders pays a good portion of the expenses of keeping theese small police forces.
This poster made it sound easy. Losing your financial aid for just one year can suck big time. Don't risk it. If you do in fact get financial aid, and you end of losing it, you're going to have to work that much harder to make it up. But then again, you may not get financial aid. |
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| RoBDaWG |
| quote: | Originally posted by Haunted
anyone have, or know someone who has, been arrested for pot?
i got arrested tonight, smoked in car, and cop pulled me over for stupid bs. smelled the pot, found the roach. i was with my bud and took the blame, he got off. got charged with improper turn, possion of marijuana under 50 grams (its a disorderly persons offense in NJ), and being under the influence controlled dangerous substance.
i'm thinking of pleading guilty, because the cop told me i probably won't lose my license and to "work with him" that he will try to lower it the best he can, i've never been in trouble.
so im wondering if you guys have any clue what might happen/advice |
check this out
http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4516 |
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| jerZ07002 |
and don't be intimidated by the penalties on this website. Unless you're a gang member or have done something real fuc*ed up, you won't get any penalties that harsh. |
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| Haunted |
yeah, i saw the pentalties and it scared me less.
basically right now i'm just worried about whether to get a lawyer or not, and whether or not to plead guilty or not.
is it truly necessary to get a lawyer? will it make a difference? they have the roach as evidence, i admitted to being high and smoking (i wasn't gonna lie, i figured being honest would help), and the cop said to just work with him he will do his best. the freakin cop had marijuana leaves and pictures all over his desk, when i asked he said "i dont always wear a uniform, i like to have fun" haa
but anyway, if i plead not guilty even though they have the evidence and the cops testimony, can i get in more than if i just plead guilty? |
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| ReenTeenTeen |
| Flee the country |
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| kid nyce |
for such a small crime i'd say pleading not guilty is a sign that you can't accept your mistake and take the penalty. It usually means more work for the courts if you plead not guilty and make a case out of it, this could potentially cause a more severe penalty.
Cops and the law system usually works like that, if you fess up and admit to it, they'll penalize less for less the hassle. Dude you was smoking pot, it's who you are and what you did, accepting the penalty (which is a slap on the wrist) is a sign of knowing what you did wrong.
And to those justice buffs, hush, we all know how decriminalized marijuana is, but that in no way justifies abusing it.
The only thing at stake here is your driving license, but i don't think you'll lose your license completely, if anything it'd be suspended for 6months max.
If you want to go the lawyer route, then do so, I just think it's excessive and I've had my fair share of run ins with the law. It shows alot if you're honest. |
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| Scoops |
| its Jersey, the most corrupt state in the Nation |
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| ReenTeenTeen |
| quote: | Originally posted by Scoops
its Jersey, the most corrupt state in the Nation |
Off topic: We all were in a huge line to get into this old club Wave on SI for a rave and my buddy and I walked around the corner to take a piss and smoke a quick joint while we at it. When were done pissing, we turn around from the fance smoking and a bunch of uniforms are standing in front of us. They ofered us an option between taking ticket either for smoking or urinating both in public. We chose the ticket for smoking because it was only $15 and for pissing it $50. Ahhh, the good old days. :rolleyes: |
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