Prescription drugs, notably pain medications like oxycodone and hydrocodone, have become increasingly available on the street, says Tampa criminal defense attorney John Musca. Commonly known by their street names - "reds" and "blues" - these drugs seem harmless, but are putting large numbers of Floridians behind bars.
Pain clinics have popped up throughout Florida and, according to some media investigations, result in easy access to highly addictive pain medications. These clinics, of which Florida has an unusually high number, cater to patients seeking strong prescription drugs used to treat chronic pain. Many of these patients have legitimate, long-term, severe pain problems, such as ruptured disks in the back. Others, however, are drug-seeking, and obtain and fill these prescriptions at several different clinics and pharmacies either to support their own addiction or to sell to others. In some instances, patients who have serious pain problems become addicted to these habit-forming painkillers, and ultimately seek out more to satisfy the addiction.
Possession, sale, and trafficking of these prescription drugs, when done without a lawful prescription from a doctor, carries hefty sentencing. For example, if Bob has a chronic pain problem, he may see Dr. Jones once per month to obtain a prescription for hydrocodone to treat the pain. Eventually, Bob becomes addicted, and seeks more than Dr. Jones will prescribe. Bob then visits Dr. Smith, who writes Bob an additional prescription for the same medication, unaware of treatment by Dr. Jones. Bob fills the second prescription at a different pharmacy, keeping half of the extra medication for himself and selling the rest to Jane. Bob and Jane can both face tough sentencing under Florida Statute 893.135. If the quantity was between four and 14 grams of hydrocodone, each could face a mandatory minimum sentence of three years. Larger quantities can result in mandatory minimum sentences of up to 25 years, although the number of pills required to reach this threshold is low.
