If you didn’t see anything wrong with this situation then you could be in for a shock because a transaction such as the one above could lead to serious criminal charges. That’s because controlled substances, such as some prescription drugs, are illegal to distribute and sell without specific permissions. So even though you might be trying to help a friend, you’d actually be violating the law and potentially getting yourself in trouble.

Now imagine for a moment that you are driving down a Colorado road when you see red and blue lights flashing behind you. You pull over and are immediately confronted by an officer who claims you were swerving. They ask to search your vehicle. You oblige; after all, you know you haven’t done anything wrong and are confident they won’t find anything that could possibly lead to an arrest.

Unfortunately, unbeknownst to you, there is a bottle of Vicodin pills on the floor in the backseat of the car that was accidentally dropped by a friend a few days earlier. Police immediately suspect you of committing a drug crime and arrest you. Even though you know you’re innocent, you still have to go through the headache of proving you did nothing intentionally wrong.

It’s innocuous situations such as this that can create some of the biggest issues for Colorado residents. But if you are aware of your right to legal counsel and exercise this right immediately after being accused of committing a crime, you have a better chance of presenting your side of the story and perhaps seeing the charges against you dropped or decreased in severity.