Criminal Defence

Drug Charges Lawyers in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia

Sign for the New Brunswick Justice Building in Fredericton

Almost every drug prosecution began with a search, and the legality of that search is the case. A drug charges lawyer at this firm reads the warrant, the traffic stop and the arrest before anything else, in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, because evidence obtained in breach of the Charter can be excluded and the charge falls with it.

The CDSA Separates Possession, Trafficking and Production

The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act separates simple possession (s. 4), possession for the purpose of trafficking and trafficking (s. 5) and production (s. 7). Schedule I drugs, cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl, carry life for trafficking. The line between possession and possession for the purpose is drawn by inference from quantity, packaging, scales, cash and messages, and the defence challenges that inference. Federal prosecution policy since 2022 diverts most personal-possession cases away from charges.

What a Drug Charges Lawyer Argues in Both Provinces

The Public Prosecution Service of Canada prosecutes, not the province. We argue sections 8 and 9 of the Charter, unreasonable search and arbitrary detention, at a pre-trial voir dire. The judge excludes the evidence under s. 24(2) where admitting it would bring the administration of justice into disrepute. Possession requires knowledge and control. Presence in a car or a shared apartment is not possession. A serious drug conviction makes a permanent resident inadmissible and bars entry to the United States. We assess both before any plea.

Sentencing Ranges and the Courts Differ by Province

The Court of Appeal in each province has set its own sentencing ranges for hard-drug trafficking, which trial judges follow. Election is between the Provincial Court of New Brunswick and the Court of King’s Bench, or the Provincial Court of Nova Scotia and the Supreme Court.

The Firm Defends CDSA Charges From Moncton, Saint John and Halifax

New Brunswick files run from the Moncton and Saint John offices, Nova Scotia files from Halifax. The first request on every file is the full disclosure: the warrant and the information sworn to obtain it, the officers’ notes, the in-car video and any informant privilege rulings. The Charter application is drafted from that. Where the search holds up, the work turns to the inference of trafficking, the quantity and the role, and to the immigration and border consequences of each possible plea.

The Province Pages

Will I Go to Jail for a First Trafficking Charge?

For a small amount of cannabis or a Schedule III drug, often not. For cocaine or fentanyl, custody is the starting point in both provinces, and the work is in the quantity, the role and the circumstances.

Police Searched My Phone at the Arrest.

Only within limits the Supreme Court of Canada has set, for a purpose connected to the arrest, with notes taken. A search that went further is challenged.

Read the firm’s drug charges guide and trafficking versus possession. The other charges are at criminal defence; every practice area is under injury law areas.