Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid with 50 to 100 times the potency of morphine. Generally, doctors use it to treat severe pain after surgeries and sometimes chronic pain issues. While the drug serves a medical purpose, it is illegal when used outside of a prescription....
Drug Charges
Sentencing scores and mandatory minimums for drug trafficking
When facing a drug trafficking charge, the range of sentences for an alleged offender can vary widely based on certain factors — the schedule of the drug, the amount in question, prior convictions and other elements will affect the judge’s ruling. Florida and federal...
What to expect in a criminal trial for high level drug charges
Each year thousands of people throughout the country are charged with low-level drug possession charges. Most of these cases are dispensed with by plea agreements and probation terms. However, high-level drug charges are an entirely different matter altogether. Anyone...
How the legal system simply recycles people
Prison (or the threat of prison) is supposed to be a deterrent to criminal activity. In reality, prison is often just a temporary holding ground through which an endless parade of the convicted is constantly rotated. A late-2019 report by the Prison Policy Initiative...
Should you be a confidential informant in a drug case?
You have a drug problem. To support your habit, maybe you deal a little to your friends -- or maybe you carried a few packages between your dealer and someone else. Whatever happened, you got caught. Naturally, you're terrified -- but the police officer has just made...
Illegal drug prices are soaring
The cost of the average fix has been going up considerably, lately. The cost of illegal drugs, just like everything else on a consumer-driver market, rises according to the law of supply and demand. Right now, social, medical and economic situations are creating a lot...
What is obstruction of justice?
You value your friends and loyalty, so when you found out that investigators were nosing around your buddy's business and looking for evidence of illegal activity, you tipped your buddy off. Your buddy responded by destroying their computer, setting fire to their...
How to protect yourself from police tactics
Nobody wants to live in a crime-infested neighborhood -- but it's important not to take away people's civil liberties and their right to due process in the name of safety. All over America (including Florida), "crime-free" multi-unit housing programs are taking hold....
Evidence shows that incarceration doesn’t work
Florida has been undergoing something of a reformation, at least where its criminal justice system is concerned. Legislative changes have -- for the first time -- reversed the tough-as-nails approach to all drug offenses that the state adopted in the wake of the War...
Can the police use trickery and lies?
The COVID-19 virus has been making a lot of headlines around the nation. People are naturally concerned about how to stay safe. Well, several police departments (including at least one here in Florida) decided that they might be able to take advantage of the growing...
In The Media:
- In the Media: