Lawmakers pass bill to ‘hold drug dealers accountable for lives they are destroying’

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – Lawmakers passed a bill to crack down on drug dealers on Tuesday.

The bill now heads to the governor. The House passed the bill 85-28 and the Senate passed the bill 31-6.

The bill was sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, and in the House by Rep. Rachel Plakon, R-Lake Mary.

The legislation revises elements of murder offenses, providing criminal penalties for adults who unlawfully distribute specified substances or mixtures that result in an overdose or serious bodily injury of the user.

The bill prohibits a person 18 years of age or older from distributing heroin, alfentanil, carfentanil, fentanyl, sufentanil, fentanyl derivatives, or an analog or mixture containing such substances, when such substances cause or are a substantial factor in causing an injury or overdose to the user.

“For far too long drug dealers have taken advantage of a loophole that literally lets them get away with murder when a user dies with multiple substances in their system,” Plakon said. “With the passing of this bill, Florida is holding dealers accountable for the lives they are destroying.”

A person commits a violation regardless of whether the distribution is made directly or indirectly through another person to the person who was injured or who overdosed.

A violation is punishable as a second degree felony. A second or subsequent conviction is punishable as a first degree felony. 

The bill also provides enhanced criminal penalties for repeat offenders and provides that specified people have certain protections from arrest and prosecution.

The legislation amends the law to revise the causation requirement for death caused by the unlawful distribution of a controlled substance to require that such distribution is proven to “have caused, or is proven to have been a substantial factor in producing the death of the user.”

“Substantial factor” is defined to mean the “use of the substance or mixture alone is sufficient to cause death, regardless of whether any other substance or mixture used is also sufficient to cause death.”

The bill also amends the law to rank the offense of distributing a controlled substance that results in injury or overdose, a second degree felony, as a Level 6 offense on the offense severity ranking chart.

The enhanced penalty for a second conviction for distributing a controlled substance that results in injury or overdose which is a first degree felony is unranked, and as such, the first degree felony defaults to a level seven offense. 

“The harder we fight to keep our communities safe, the harder dealers work to evade our laws, and that ends today,” Brodeur said.

“It’s a long standing law in Florida that if a user dies, the dealers can be charged with murder; if not, it’s attempted murder. This bill adds the attempted part,” Brodeur said.