Marijuana misdemeanor charge question

[throwaway780]

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So I've already been accepted to dental school, start my first year in about a month. However, I just got charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession. I still have a pending court date to see if I get convicted, and considering this is my first criminal charge of any kind I'm hoping to get off with a fine and drug counseling or something, but I know that isn't guaranteed. Anyways, where do I stand as far as how this can affect dental school? I know some schools do background checks as a condition of acceptance, but mine doesn't/didn't. With that in mind, could this lead to my offer being rescinded? I would actually likely already be in school by the time my court date occurs, so it would be more like getting kicked out then an offer being rescinded.

Even if the school doesn't find out, I believe I remember when I applied for federal loans that there was a condition related to drug charges. I did a bit more research and I think a conviction for a first time offender is a max of 1 year of federal loan ineligibility, but even if I got that, whats the alternative for getting loans? At that point I would already have received my loan for the year, would I have to return it? Is there an alternative to federal loans, like could I get a private loan from a bank which I would assume would have a worse interest rate?

The last potential issue I could see is it affecting my being licensed down the road. Does anyone know the rules regarding marijuana misdemeanors and dental licensing?

I know I screwed up, right now I'm trying to be optimistic and hope the charges get dropped, reduced, or expunged. However, in the mean time, what should I do? Should I contact my school to give them a heads up? On one hand, I don't want to bring it to their attention if they wouldn't find out anyways due to a lack of background check, but I also wouldn't want them to think I was hiding it from them and have it come back to bite me in the ass. Surely I'm not the first person this has ever happened to, could anyone chime in who has heard of something similar happening?

 

[DrJeff]

So I've already been accepted to dental school, start my first year in about a month. However, I just got charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession. I still have a pending court date to see if I get convicted, and considering this is my first criminal charge of any kind I'm hoping to get off with a fine and drug counseling or something, but I know that isn't guaranteed. Anyways, where do I stand as far as how this can affect dental school? I know some schools do background checks as a condition of acceptance, but mine doesn't/didn't. With that in mind, could this lead to my offer being rescinded? I would actually likely already be in school by the time my court date occurs, so it would be more like getting kicked out then an offer being rescinded.

Even if the school doesn't find out, I believe I remember when I applied for federal loans that there was a condition related to drug charges. I did a bit more research and I think a conviction for a first time offender is a max of 1 year of federal loan ineligibility, but even if I got that, whats the alternative for getting loans? At that point I would already have received my loan for the year, would I have to return it? Is there an alternative to federal loans, like could I get a private loan from a bank which I would assume would have a worse interest rate?

The last potential issue I could see is it affecting my being licensed down the road. Does anyone know the rules regarding marijuana misdemeanors and dental licensing?

I know I screwed up, right now I'm trying to be optimistic and hope the charges get dropped, reduced, or expunged. However, in the mean time, what should I do? Should I contact my school to give them a heads up? On one hand, I don't want to bring it to their attention if they wouldn't find out anyways due to a lack of background check, but I also wouldn't want them to think I was hiding it from them and have it come back to bite me in the ass. Surely I'm not the first person this has ever happened to, could anyone chime in who has heard of something similar happening?

If convicted, you could potentially have down the road issues with your licensure and also obtaining your federal DEA license and state controlled substances permit, as "have you ever been convicted of a crime?" is a fairly standard question for obtaining your license

 

[Dr. Dai Phan]

So I've already been accepted to dental school, start my first year in about a month. However, I just got charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession. I still have a pending court date to see if I get convicted, and considering this is my first criminal charge of any kind I'm hoping to get off with a fine and drug counseling or something, but I know that isn't guaranteed. Anyways, where do I stand as far as how this can affect dental school? I know some schools do background checks as a condition of acceptance, but mine doesn't/didn't. With that in mind, could this lead to my offer being rescinded? I would actually likely already be in school by the time my court date occurs, so it would be more like getting kicked out then an offer being rescinded.

Even if the school doesn't find out, I believe I remember when I applied for federal loans that there was a condition related to drug charges. I did a bit more research and I think a conviction for a first time offender is a max of 1 year of federal loan ineligibility, but even if I got that, whats the alternative for getting loans? At that point I would already have received my loan for the year, would I have to return it? Is there an alternative to federal loans, like could I get a private loan from a bank which I would assume would have a worse interest rate?

The last potential issue I could see is it affecting my being licensed down the road. Does anyone know the rules regarding marijuana misdemeanors and dental licensing?

I know I screwed up, right now I'm trying to be optimistic and hope the charges get dropped, reduced, or expunged. However, in the mean time, what should I do? Should I contact my school to give them a heads up? On one hand, I don't want to bring it to their attention if they wouldn't find out anyways due to a lack of background check, but I also wouldn't want them to think I was hiding it from them and have it come back to bite me in the ass. Surely I'm not the first person this has ever happened to, could anyone chime in who has heard of something similar happening?

Greetings,

This is a tough situation to get yourself in. Before you start DS, you will need to check on the school, the state dental licensing board, financial aid office along with your lawyer to see what kind of problems down the road you may end up having. You certainly do not want to start dental school then not getting state license to practice, or being denied of financial aid or expelled once the school finds out. I could be wrong but this is not a serious crime so you may be OK after all. Still, you need to get all the facts straight because DS is expensive and you do not want to be empty handed at the end. DP

 

[Glimmer1991]

The very first thing you need to do is hire a good lawyer.

 

[periopocket]

The very first thing you need to do is hire a good lawyer.

A lawyer will have the answer to all your question...it will be worth the $$$$..GL