A bill imposing tougher penalties against illegal dealers of fentanyl and synthetic forms of the prescription drug is heading toward Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s desk, in the same week that he declared the state’s opioid epidemic a public health emergency.
On Friday, the Florida Senate voted 31-7 to pass a measure that would impose tougher penalties for synthetic drug offenders, by giving judges the discretion to give someone caught with four grams of fentanyl a three-year mandatory minimum sentence. Someone with more than 14 grams but less than 28 grams would face a mandatory minimum 15-year prison term, and someone with more than 28 grams but less than 30 kilograms would be in prison for a minimum of 25 years.
Earlier in the week, the Senate stripped the mandatory minimum provision, but the House said it would not pass the legislature without it. Senate Democrats and other opponents said they worried the mandatory minimum will open the door to harsher penalties on other drug offenders.
Drug dealers who sell to people who overdose and die could also face murder charges under the final version of the bill.
Fentanyl, carfentanil and several other synthetic forms of the drug will now be added to the list of schedule I controlled substances in Florida under the bill.
Wednesday’s declaration by Scott allows Florida to access more than $54 million in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant money to help tackle the opioid epidemic in the state.
“I know firsthand how heartbreaking substance abuse can be to a family because it impacted my own family growing up,” Scott said in a statement. “The individuals struggling with drug use are sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and friends and each tragic case leaves loved ones searching for answers and praying for help.”
In 2015, heroin, fentanyl and oxycodone were directly responsible for the deaths of nearly 3,900 Floridians, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said.
