While there are plenty of ways to categorize drug crimes in Connecticut, where we focus on drug testing, controlled substances, and the abuse and misuse of prescription drugs, there are a few very unique situations that do not fall neatly into such categories.

Because many of the precursors to illegal drugs are legal components of drugs, it is possible for smart people to combine those drugs to make new, illegal drugs. Connecticut law has set aside specific laws against the manufacture of drugs. It isn’t necessarily the scientist in a laboratory making a designer drug to qualify for a law violation. In fact, simply packaging existing drugs can create the “drug manufacturing” that is prohibited by Connecticut law.

One issue that has arisen recently is the development and sale of fake drugs. Some enterprising people have taken to purchasing items from overseas that look and feel like real drugs, but don’t have the same effects on the human body. The prosecution of fake drugs in Connecticut is a growing part of law enforcement’s goals.

As opioid use grows, many abusers are finding themselves unable to distinguish between opioids and more dangerous drugs like fentanyl. Oftentimes, the use of fentanyl causes the death of a person, and a dealer could be charged with the crime of sale of drugs and death of another.

Finally, you don’t have to actually even have drugs on your person or participate in a drug sale to be designated a conspirator to a drug crime in Connecticut. All you need to do is take a single step in furtherance of the conspiracy.