Bill cracking down on fentanyl dealers headed to Gov. Rick Scott

A bill that will allow dealers who sell fentanyl or synthetic forms of the lethal drug to be charged with murder and trafficking, or face minimum mandatory prison sentences and fines, is now going to Gov. Rick Scott's office after being passed by the Florida Legislature.

On Friday, the Florida Senate passed HB 477 after removing an amendment they had attached earlier in the week. The Florida House had refused to pass the bill on Thursday with the attached amendment that would allow for judges to depart from the minimum mandatory sentences.

HB 477, which passed unanimously by the House last month, was co-sponsored by Rep. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton. The bill, if signed by Scott, will add fentanyl, carfentanil and several other synthetic forms of the drug to the list of schedule I controlled substances.

If signed into law, the bill will also create a trafficking charge for fentanyl, carfentanil and other synthetics.

Boyd was very pleased with the bill’s passage, and remained confident that the governor would sign it.

"Today, the Florida Legislature sent the right message recognizing the severity of our state’s opioid crisis. These fentanyl dealers are the worst of the worst and deserve the harshest penalties possible,” Boyd said in a statement issued to the Bradenton Herald.

Manatee County has been the epicenter of the heroin epidemic in Florida, which has worsened since dealers began selling fentanyl or carfentanil as heroin or cutting heroin with it.

Fentanyl is an opioid painkiller 100 times more powerful than morphine. Carfentanil is 10,000 times more powerful than morphine and often used as a tranquilizer to subdue large exotic animals such as rhinos, elephants and hippos.

The bill was the result of a comprehensive effort by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Attorney General’s Office, the Florida Sheriff’s Association and scientists and chemists over the past year in creating the language needed to crack down on dealers.

“We are extremely pleased that the legislature has heard us and has understood the passion behind this bill,” Manatee Sheriff Rick Wells said. “Without it, the dealers responsible for these killings were never held accountable and there was no deterrent.”

Currently, dealers apprehended with fentanyl or any of the synthetic forms are charged under controlled substance statute, and the quantity makes no difference.

If signed into law by Scott, dealers convicted on fentanyl, carfentanil or other synthetic forms of fentanyl charges will face the following:

▪  4 grams or more but less than 14 grams: a mandatory minimum 3-year prison term, $50,000 fine

▪  More than 14 grams but less than 28 grams: a mandatory minimum 15-year prison term, $100,000 fine

▪  More than 28 grams but less than 30 kilograms, a mandatory minimum 25-year prison term, $500,000 fine

This story was originally published May 5, 2017 at 2:10 PM with the headline "Bill cracking down on fentanyl dealers headed to Gov. Rick Scott."