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Is it illegal to share medicine with someone else?

On Behalf of | Jul 6, 2022 | Drug Crimes

Medicine can be used to treat all manner of ailments, both great and small, and the development of modern medicine has significantly improved the quality of life in the United States.

As such, it doesn’t carry a negative connotation. If you’re using some sort of medication, you may be more than happy to tell friends or family members about how much it has helped you. You’re glad to have found a solution to whatever ailment you were facing.

But what if that person tells you that they’ve experienced similar symptoms? They would like to try using your medication. They want to find out if it’s right for them and if it can be as beneficial. Since you want to help them and you care about them, you agree to share it.

You could face serious charges

This doesn’t sound like a malicious thing to do or even something that you would assume is illegal. You just want to help someone else who is close to you.

But the problem here is that medication sharing, at least with prescription medications, is illegal. You can’t think of prescription medications the same way that you think of over-the-counter drugs, supplements and other products. Because they are controlled by the prescription system, these are still controlled substances. An individual is not allowed to give these to someone else or to sell them.

In fact, specific drugs are only supposed to be used by people who have that exact prescription. Even if your friend went out and got a prescription for the same medication, giving them your pills could still be illegal. They’re only allowed to use the specific medication that was approved for them in their case. Anything else could get you both in legal trouble, for either possessing the medication illegally or for distributing it to someone who was never meant to have it.

What can you do next?

You clearly never expected to find yourself in this position. You weren’t trying to make money or do anything illegal. But you made a mistake and now you’re facing drug charges. Be sure that you understand how this could impact your future and all the legal defense options you have to try to minimize that impact.