Well, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is not soft on crimes that will destroy our Children’s future.
On Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed CS/HB 95 – Controlled Substance bill at Lakeland Fire Rescue station, and the minimum mandatory sentence for selling fentanyl in Florida was increased from three to seven years.
When criminals sell even larger amounts, the penalty can rise to at least 20 years. The law was hailed by the DeSantis administration as a way to combat Florida’s opioid crisis.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid reported to be 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Its potency has led to a wave of overdose deaths nationwide, and fentanyl is so strong that first responders who come into contact with the drug when they respond to overdoses can then overdose.
DeSantis said, according to WTSP, “We’re going to do all we can to decrease the prevalence of fentanyl in Florida and that means if you’re dealing fentanyl, you are killing people, and you’re going to be put in jail.”
If the distribution of methamphetamine results in a person’s death, Florida’s new law makes it a felony of first-degree murder. The penalties are also increased if the sale of a controlled substance occurs within 1,000 feet of a substance abuse treatment facility.
Prior to DeSantis signing the bill, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma spoke at a press conference in support of CS/HB 95 – Controlled Substance.
“If there’s people that wonder what a deadly dose of fentanyl is,” Judd said holding up a picture comparing how much is needed to a penny, “this is it — 2 milligrams. And 116 people in Polk County last year died from just this small amount of fentanyl.”
According to LIVE Tampa Bay’s research, the region has some of the country’s highest rates of opioid overdoses. In the Tampa Bay region, an estimated 1,540 people died of opioid overdoses in 2020, up 49.6% from 2019.
That’s higher than the state and national averages, 10 Tampa Bay said.
Sources: Conservativebrief, Fox13news, Theledger