If You Have a Prosecutorial Investigation for Drug Smoking Ahead, Check This First!

Among those reading this post, some may be facing suspicion of drug use with a prosecutorial investigation scheduled. Drug cases carry a high risk of evidence destruction, so the proceedings determining punishment move quickly. Therefore, if an individual handles this process alone, there is a high likelihood of receiving punishment more severe than the actual offense warrants.

For this reason, you should promptly obtain the assistance of a legal professional to prepare for the initial statements taken during the prosecutorial investigation and the various drug tests that will follow.

At LAWFIRM LEAP, our attorneys, who have experience at major law firms and as former police officers, handle these cases, so we understand the perspectives of both the police and the Prosecution better than most, and can suggest the best method to argue the case favorably at the investigation stage.

With that in mind, today we will explain how to respond when facing a prosecutorial investigation for drug smoking in order to minimize legal punishment.

Taking about three minutes to read this will give you the information you need.

01How to Respond to a Prosecutorial Investigation for Drug Smoking, Including Urine Tests

When an investigation begins due to suspected drug smoking, a urine test is conducted. This test is performed using a kit, and results can be confirmed within 5 minutes. However, except in cases where drugs were administered within the past week, it becomes difficult to detect drug use through a urine test once a certain period has passed.

02Act on the Control of Narcotics, Etc. (Article 58)

Looking at the level of punishment by type of drug: administering heroin, opium, or poppy carries imprisonment of up to 10 years or a fine of up to KRW 100 million; inhaling cannabis carries imprisonment of up to 5 years or a fine of up to KRW 50 million; and taking a psychotropic substance under item (b), such as ecstasy, carries imprisonment of up to 10 years or a fine of up to KRW 100 million.

This is because after 7 days or more, drug components are likely to have left the body, making a negative result likely. Therefore, if drug use did in fact occur, you should speak honestly with an experienced attorney about your situation and seek a lawful way to delay the urine test. However, if there is no legal justification for avoiding the test, you should actively cooperate with it in order to avoid the risk of a detained investigation.

This is why you need legal counsel who can flexibly devise a response strategy depending on the circumstances. If a urine test is conducted and the simple kit result is positive, a more precise test will follow. And if it is determined that a supplementary test is needed, a hair test may also be conducted.

A hair test can be performed on hair from any part of the body, not just the scalp, and due to the nature of body hair, drugs can be detected even long after use. Therefore, if it cannot be avoided, it is better to undergo the test properly and then seek leniency by identifying favorable sentencing factors.

Occasionally, out of fear of the prosecutorial investigation, some people bleach their hair or shave hair from other parts of the body. In such cases, since testing itself may become difficult, this may be viewed as intentional, which can lead to enhanced punishment, so it is not a wise strategy.

Therefore, if you administered drugs and were apprehended by an investigator in the process, from the outset you should retain an experienced attorney to establish a strategy for preparing for the test and how to state your position before the police investigation begins. Only through such an initial response can you prevent a finding of intent or habitual offense that would lead to severe punishment.

03How to Present Favorable Sentencing Factors in a Prosecutorial Investigation for Drug Smoking

If you are suspected of a drug offense, you must view the matter from a legal perspective. Admitting the charge out of fear or confusion in the face of an investigator's pressure, only to later deny it, or otherwise changing your statement, only serves to increase the severity of the punishment.

Therefore, from the outset, with the assistance of an experienced attorney, you should precisely determine which parts of the charge to admit and which to deny before establishing your position and making statements. If the Prosecution has already secured evidence, please remember that exercising the right to remain silent or denying the charge without basis is disadvantageous to obtaining a lenient outcome, and you should accompany an experienced attorney to the investigation and explain your position with concrete facts.

And if the charge is admitted, you should promptly acknowledge the offense while noting that the drug use was not planned or organized, in order to establish grounds for leniency. In addition, you must strongly demonstrate your intent not to reoffend to prevent punishment being imposed out of concern for recidivism.

In this situation, you may appeal for leniency by noting that you used drugs impulsively and out of curiosity, but you sincerely regret your actions and there are many petitions from people around you seeking leniency, and that a severe punishment in this case could threaten your family's livelihood.

This offense is a serious crime among criminal matters, and a poor initial response could result in a criminal record, so obtaining legal assistance from an expert with extensive experience resolving such cases increases the likelihood of relief.

An attorney with a police background understands the police perspective better than anyone.

The attorneys at LAWFIRM LEAP have worked at Kim & Chang and Bae, Kim & Lee — Korea's largest law firms — handling a wide range of sex crime cases, and as former police officers, have conducted numerous initial investigations critical to sex crime cases, giving them in-depth expertise needed to respond to the initial stages of an investigation.

Therefore, if you work with LAWFIRM LEAP, an attorney with experience at a major law firm and as a police officer will personally support you from beginning to end, actively substantiating the client's position and guiding the case toward a favorable outcome during the drug testing process.

At LEAP, we understand better than anyone the situation you are in and the urgency you feel, and we will mobilize all our knowledge and expertise to help achieve the best possible outcome.

If today's information has not resolved your concerns, please feel free to contact LEAP at any time. We will thoroughly prepare a tailored strategy suited to your situation, from the initial response to the investigating authority's inquiry onward.

Thank you for reading this long post.