How to Keep a Teen Drug Arrest From Becoming a Long Case

Q: Why are there fewer juvenile drug cases today?

Richard S. Sterger: The funny thing is we see this less and less. I see fewer juvenile drug cases today than in the past. A lot of that has to do with there being a lot fewer street transactions. A lot of drug cases used to come out of street transactions, and we see a lot less of that because the cell phone has made it so that people don't have to stand on the street corner to sell drugs anymore. Also, we see a lot more marijuana than anything else. With the legalization of marijuana, we see less of that. In the juvenile context, that doesn't really apply. But that same softening: you don't see a lot of kids arrested for smoking cigarettes. They've never been allowed to smoke cigarettes, but it's not something that you see enforced greatly. When you legalize things like marijuana, what you'll see is a lot more distributor-side enforcement, where the police actions aren't targeted at trying to identify youth that have marijuana on them. Any concerted police effort is about finding the places that might be selling to people who are underage. We do get a number of those cases as well.

Q: Will a drug arrest follow my teenager forever?

Richard S. Sterger: Is this going to ruin your kid's future? Most likely not. Is it going to follow them? Most likely not. If you make the right moves, these are things that get handled and can be put behind your kid, and they're not going to have to worry about it. When we're talking about juveniles [under] 18, that system is 100% set up so that there is no record that's going to trail your kid. Now the question is how long your child is going to end up in that system, particularly when it involves drugs. I have a high success rate at diversion in these cases. But diversion in these cases still oftentimes involves court monitoring, and that court monitoring always includes drug testing as a component of it. The failure rate in these types of diversion situations can be higher, so these things can drag on. The ability to get something handled at the police level or at the DA diversion level instead of ever getting a petition filed may become more important in a context like this, because once you're in the juvenile system, there are times I've seen it more difficult for kids to be let out of it. Particularly when we're talking about something as simple as marijuana, kids keep smoking marijuana, then kids keep testing dirty, and this juvenile thing can track on. So if you have the ability to divert at the arrest level or at the DA's level, oftentimes it's a lot better to do that.

Q: Why act before a juvenile petition is filed?

Richard S. Sterger: Sometimes judicial oversight or judicial diversion, where it normally ends up in a drug case, can be a lot trickier than if we can take action, like getting him into a program, getting him going to Narcotics Anonymous. Getting them to do something that we can use as mitigation, and doing it quickly so that a petition is never filed. [The monitoring after a petition is filed] brings up issues that often mean it gets extended for a while. That's a cost as well. I'm appearing every quarter, and I'm billing you for every time that I appear, quarter after quarter, for the review hearings while your kid's on probation.

Q: What should I do after my teen's drug arrest in San Diego?

Richard S. Sterger: Let's contact an attorney right away. Drug possession really falls into a couple of categories, depending on what drug it is. As for how it's handled at the adult level for your young adult, I can tell you this: I can get them into diversion. We're usually looking at six to twelve months on a first-time offense. They're not looking at jail time. We can handle it very effectively. With the juvenile, we have some avenues early on. That makes contacting an attorney very important because, like I said, that juvenile oversight can oftentimes be more onerous, and we can handle it in a type of diversion that is less invasive.

Q: How long has Sterger handled criminal cases in San Diego?

Richard S. Sterger: In San Diego, we only went back to doing this about five years ago. My career started in criminal. There was a period of time that I didn't practice criminal, but we've come back to it in the last five years.

How to Keep a Teen Drug Arrest From Becoming a Long Case

Richard S. Sterger • October 28, 2026

TL;DR

Richard S. Sterger, founding attorney of Sterger Law Group, says a teen's drug arrest will most likely not follow them, because California's juvenile system is set up so no record trails the child. The bigger risk is time. Court-supervised diversion always includes drug testing and can drag on, and probation brings quarterly review hearings, so he works to resolve cases at the police or DA level before a petition is ever filed.

For juveniles under 18, the juvenile system is set up so that no record trails the child, and Sterger says a drug arrest will most likely not ruin or follow them if families make the right moves.
Diversion supervised by the court always includes drug testing, and the failure rate can be higher, so these cases can drag on when teens keep testing dirty.
A juvenile drug case can be resolved at several points: community diversion at the police level, a DA community program before a petition, court diversion managed by a judge, and court-monitored probation followed by sealing.
Taking quick action, such as enrolling the teen in a program or Narcotics Anonymous, gives the defense mitigation that can help keep a petition from being filed.
For young adults on a first-time offense, Sterger says diversion usually runs six to twelve months and they are not looking at jail time.
During juvenile probation, Sterger appears at review hearings every quarter, and each appearance is a billed cost to the family.

Why are there fewer juvenile drug cases today?

Richard S. Sterger: The funny thing is we see this less and less. I see fewer juvenile drug cases today than in the past. A lot of that has to do with there being a lot fewer street transactions. A lot of drug cases used to come out of street transactions, and we see a lot less of that because the cell phone has made it so that people don't have to stand on the street corner to sell drugs anymore.

Also, we see a lot more marijuana than anything else. With the legalization of marijuana, we see less of that. In the juvenile context, that doesn't really apply. But that same softening: you don't see a lot of kids arrested for smoking cigarettes. They've never been allowed to smoke cigarettes, but it's not something that you see enforced greatly. When you legalize things like marijuana, what you'll see is a lot more distributor-side enforcement, where the police actions aren't targeted at trying to identify youth that have marijuana on them. Any concerted police effort is about finding the places that might be selling to people who are underage.

We do get a number of those cases as well.

Will a drug arrest follow my teenager forever?

Richard S. Sterger: Is this going to ruin your kid's future? Most likely not. Is it going to follow them? Most likely not. If you make the right moves, these are things that get handled and can be put behind your kid, and they're not going to have to worry about it. When we're talking about juveniles [under] 18, that system is 100% set up so that there is no record that's going to trail your kid.

Now the question is how long your child is going to end up in that system, particularly when it involves drugs. I have a high success rate at diversion in these cases. But diversion in these cases still oftentimes involves court monitoring, and that court monitoring always includes drug testing as a component of it. The failure rate in these types of diversion situations can be higher, so these things can drag on.

The ability to get something handled at the police level or at the DA diversion level instead of ever getting a petition filed may become more important in a context like this, because once you're in the juvenile system, there are times I've seen it more difficult for kids to be let out of it. Particularly when we're talking about something as simple as marijuana, kids keep smoking marijuana, then kids keep testing dirty, and this juvenile thing can track on. So if you have the ability to divert at the arrest level or at the DA's level, oftentimes it's a lot better to do that.

Why act before a juvenile petition is filed?

Richard S. Sterger: Sometimes judicial oversight or judicial diversion, where it normally ends up in a drug case, can be a lot trickier than if we can take action, like getting him into a program, getting him going to Narcotics Anonymous. Getting them to do something that we can use as mitigation, and doing it quickly so that a petition is never filed.

[The monitoring after a petition is filed] brings up issues that often mean it gets extended for a while.

That's a cost as well. I'm appearing every quarter, and I'm billing you for every time that I appear, quarter after quarter, for the review hearings while your kid's on probation.

What should I do after my teen's drug arrest in San Diego?

Richard S. Sterger: Let's contact an attorney right away. Drug possession really falls into a couple of categories, depending on what drug it is.

As for how it's handled at the adult level for your young adult, I can tell you this: I can get them into diversion. We're usually looking at six to twelve months on a first-time offense. They're not looking at jail time. We can handle it very effectively. With the juvenile, we have some avenues early on. That makes contacting an attorney very important because, like I said, that juvenile oversight can oftentimes be more onerous, and we can handle it in a type of diversion that is less invasive.

How long has Sterger handled criminal cases in San Diego?

Richard S. Sterger: In San Diego, we only went back to doing this about five years ago.

My career started in criminal.

There was a period of time that I didn't practice criminal, but we've come back to it in the last five years.

How can a juvenile drug charge stay off my child's record?

Richard S. Sterger: There are certainly ways to keep a juvenile drug charge off your kid's record. If we're talking about a true juvenile [under] 18 years old, one is we can intervene at the level of the police, and there's community diversion. It's never even referred up to the DA. We can work with the DA, and there's the DA level, where we get them involved in the community program. The DA's office has community programs that are set up. We can do diversion before a petition is ever filed.

If a petition is filed, we can seek diversion through the court, where it would be managed by the judge. If they successfully complete that diversion, then it would not be on their record. Even if it went past that and there was an admission and they were found to have committed the act, we would then go through the process of probation monitored by the court. If that probation was successfully completed, at that point the record would be sealed and would not be on your kid's record.

A lot of this has to do with the level at which we're addressing it. The earlier, the better. The earlier, the less it's going to impact your kid, the less it's going to impact your family, the less work that's going to have to be done, and the shorter the period of time that your child's going to be engaged with the system.

Where a juvenile drug case can be resolved, from earliest to latest

Stage	How it works	What Sterger says about it
Police level	Community diversion; the case is never referred up to the DA	The earlier, the less impact on the child and family and the shorter time in the system
DA level, before a petition	The teen is placed in one of the DA's office community programs before a petition is filed	Often a lot better than court diversion, which can drag on
Court diversion after a petition	Diversion managed by the judge, with monitoring that always includes drug testing	Not on the record if completed, but the failure rate can be higher and cases can be extended
Court-monitored probation after an admission	Probation monitored by the court, with review hearings every quarter	The record is sealed after probation is successfully completed

Frequently Asked Questions

Will a drug arrest stay on my teenager's record?

Richard S. Sterger says it most likely will not, because the juvenile system for those under 18 is set up so that no record trails the child. The bigger question is how long the teen stays in the system, especially when court monitoring and drug testing are involved.

Can my child's record still be clean if a juvenile petition is filed?

Yes. If a petition is filed, the defense can seek court diversion managed by the judge, and successful completion keeps it off the record. Even after an admission, successfully completing court-monitored probation leads to the record being sealed.

What can parents do right after a teen's drug arrest?

Sterger says to contact an attorney right away. Quick steps such as getting the teen into a program or Narcotics Anonymous give the defense mitigation that can help keep a petition from ever being filed.

What happens to an 18 to 21 year old charged with drug possession for the first time?

For young adults, Sterger says he can get them into diversion, usually lasting six to twelve months on a first-time offense. They are not looking at jail time.

Edited for length and clarity from a recorded conversation with Richard S. Sterger.