With the opioid epidemic still raging in South Florida, now more and more drug dealers are facing tougher criminal charges, including murder charges. Eighteen months ago, Florida lawmakers passed legislation allowing fentanyl dealers to be charged with murder if the drugs they sold resulted in someone’s death.
In February, a grand jury indicted two fentanyl dealers on charges of first-degree murder for allegedly selling the powerful synthetic.
However, some critics who are working to reform the United States’ failed war on drugs feel charging fentanyl dealers just will make the ongoing opioid crisis in this country worse.
“If drug-induced homicide prosecutions are intended to send a message to dealers, there is no discernible evidence that it has been received,” the New Republic stated in a September 2018 article.
The article notes that tying murder charges to drug overdoses largely began in the Reagan era, in an effort to curb cocaine deaths, and now is a tactic more and more states are implementing in the opioid epidemic. These tougher drug charges also punish addicts, some of whom are sharing drugs with friends.
Often drug users don’t even know they are taking fentanyl because it often is mixed with heroin.
Last year, fentanyl became the leading cause of drug overdose deaths in Florida.
If you or a loved one are facing charges from distributing fentanyl, consult an experienced attorney. You could be facing a lengthy prison sentence, a felony conviction and hefty fines. You want the best representation you can get for your case.
