what would you do? legal advice, please!!

[barelylethal (OP)]

first, i hope this is an appropriate forum to post this in. if not, i apologize!!

so i'm gonna try not too make this too too long, but this is my current situation

this past july i was court ordered to rehab and long term treatment (halfway house, 3/4, etc). while i was there i took a sub, had pee hidden under my bed at the halfway house, and 2 days later thought i was in the clear, but.. i wasn't. i'm still not sure if one of my roommates was going through my things or if it was a random room search or how staff found out, but they did, and drug tested me. of course i popped dirty for bupe and would be kicked out but it was late at night and there were no counselors there so i probably would've stayed until morning or whatever until they called my probation officer. you get the picture. so instead of waiting around to be arrested, i left about 10 minutes later. i went back to my parents house (this is all in the same county as my probation), which is the address my PO has for me. i figured they'd come in about a week to arrest me, and got high in the meantime, feeling like i'd be ready to go when they came and accept whatever fate my PO decided for me.

so, he never came. it's over 2 months later now, and about 3 weeks ago i was stopped by police for 'loitering'. i didn't have ID on me but told him my name, sure i had a warrant. my last name has a somewhat unusual spelling and i dont know if he spelled it wrong, or what, but he didn't say anything about me being on probation, and told me i didn't have a warrant. they didnt have a female officer to search me luckily and i was allowed to walk away, in disbelief.

i want to quit using, i really do, but i can't stand the whole 'recovery' scene, i'm atheist and the god/higher power thing does not resonate with me at all, and NA/AA rooms are just so clique-y and insufferable to me. what i would really like to do is get back on methadone, but i guess all that is besides the point. so my ultimate question is this... what the hell should i do?

if i were to get back on methadone, what do you think would happen? could my PO violate me for that? is that irrelevant, because i haven't reported in the last 2 months? that alone is a violation, isn't it? why have i not been picked up yet?

i know this is all pretty broad/vague but if any of you fine folks can just give me an idea of how this shit works, i'd really appreciate it. this is my first time on probation and i don't really understand the law that well, i'm ashamed to say.

[MoeMentim]

  I can't advise on the parole related stuff, but I wanted to say that there is a real revolution going on (or it will be soon & I'm just seeing the beginning) in the psychology of recovery.  Away from forced abstinence & away from the necessity of 12 step meetings.  Emphasis on getting the addict re-integrated into society with meaningful relationships and work, support network & stable living situation regardless whether the addict is still using.  This new approach shows a lot of promise, lots of people are calling it "more succesful" than traditional 12 step stuff.  Small alternative organizations like "smart recovery" (no God/higher power necessary) have been around a while.  If, by chance, you have any depression/anxiety or other mental health difficulties maybe there's a support group for that?  For me that would be helpful toward recovery but I have none close. 

[onewayonly]

I don't get what you mean by po. U said u had no warrants. Are you on probation? Do you get drug tested 😂.

Yeah methadone saved me but I was bad off man. I recommend it for users suboxome cannot help. Sub never made me  stop shooting dope or craving 😈.

Its all up to u. I'm interested in your po thing thiugh

[Z]

I can't really help with legal stuff beyond platitudes like "get a lawyer" or "call your PO."  Maybe you got lucky, or maybe you are just a low priority for the PO.  I don't know if anyone here could tell you unfortunately.  Are there social workers or community organizations that could help you find out?  I know that some of the groups here will talk to probation, lawyers, and judges and perform advocacy if it's needed.

I don't get what you mean by po. U said u had no warrants. Are you on probation? Do you get drug tested 😂.

A PO is a probation officer.

Yeah methadone saved me but I was bad off man. I recommend it for users suboxome cannot help. Sub never made me  stop shooting dope or craving 😈.

Its all up to u. I'm interested in your po thing thiugh

Methadone helped me too, but lots of people have the same experience with subs.  We are all different after all.  I wouldn't generalize and say that suboxone cannot help anyone.

[barelylethal (OP)]

@MoeMentim yeah, i've looked into the smart recovery thing, but like you i couldnt find anything available in my area. thank you though!

@onewayonly like Z said, PO = probation officer, so yes i'm on probation. i have not reported since i left/got kicked out (however you wanna look at it) of the halfway house. i was on methadone for 2 years and still used on it, but i've always had a bad reaction with subs and no it wasn't just from precipitated WD, plus i feel like i would just get the script, and sell them for dope.

@Z yeah, i mean i have no access to the kind of money a "real lawyer" would require. if i were to try to contact like, my public defender from past cases, do you think she would possibly be able/willing to answer any of my questions? i'm sure i am low priority, but i don't see what would be stopping him from putting having the judge sign a warrant or whatever, and then it'd be up to the sheriffs to pick me up. i said 2 in my original post, but now that i actually stop and think about it, it's been about 3 whole months since i left the halfway house. as far as organizations to help or whatever, i'm pretty sure there's legal aid, but i dont know how that works either. guess i should try though.

thanks, guys

[Z]

I have never tried it, but smart recovery so online meetings.  I know my local group does specifically, and you can find others on their website: http://www.smartrecovery.org/intro/


As for your public pretender, it depends on them.  I have met some great people who do public defense because they love it, and others who do it for the paycheque.


I know one of my old friends thought he had a warrant at one point.  He went into the cop shop to self surrender and found out he didn't after all.  You could call, but they might tell you to come in to find out.

[onewayonly]

I get what you are saying z. He said he would probably sell his sub script. Well that's what I did for 5 years. Doing the sub maybe 2 time a month when I had no access to h. Sub's are great for some especially pill users but someone that's been on methadone before or been an iv user for more than 2 yrs could
have a hard time with cravings on subs.  At least I did.

I would go for sub's but sometimes u know that is not the answer. Especially if u plan on selling them for dope money they will not work. Just my 2$

[Raine]

I don't think they could violate you for being on methadone at a clinic if you're being prescribed it but if you get picked up you will likely be detoxing cold turkey in jail and coming off dope or sub or pills is preferable to coming off 'done. I went on the clinic with my probation officers blessing and the counseling at the clinic even qualified for my drug counseling portion of the probation so I mean, it's def not frowned upon or a violatable offense as long as it's prescribed.

As for the rest of it...try calling your clerk of court and find out if there is a warrant, to start with. Google the name of the court and clerk of court phone number. My parish has that stuff online,  you can search your name in a warrant search. Try " your county name warrant search" in google too.