Author Archives: Jay Butchko
It’s Easier Than You Think For Florida To Send Defendants To Prison For Life Without Parole
As scary as it is when a judge pronounces your sentence at a sentencing hearing, especially when that sentence involves prison time, the sentence is not set in stone. Defendants convicted in criminal court have the right to appeal their sentences and their convictions. During your sentence, you have the right to move your… Read More »
Lawmakers Aim To End Sentencing Disparity Between Crack Cocaine And Powder Cocaine Cases
If you ask most people today which drug is the most dangerous, most will say that it is fentanyl. This makes sense because fentanyl causes more overdose deaths than any other drug, and because most people who consume fentanyl do not know that they are consuming it; they think they are getting methamphetamine, heroin,… Read More »
Is Mental Illness A Valid Defense In Criminal Cases?
It seems like everyone is talking about mental illness these days, but no one is listening. Approximately a quarter of Americans have been diagnosed with a mental illness at some point in their lives. Medical privacy laws prevent people from having to disclose their health history, including diagnoses and treatment related to psychiatric illness,… Read More »
Can You Get A DUI For Driving Under The Influence Of Cannabis?
Since 2016, the city of Tampa has decriminalized possession of small quantities of cannabis, but don’t let this make you overconfident. Neither Tampa nor the state of Florida in general has become a 420-friendly free-for-all, despite that people might sometimes act that way. You can still get civil fines for cannabis possession, and it… Read More »
The Mostly Harmless Substances That Can Make Your Opioid Case Much Worse
The scare campaigns of the War on Drugs included classroom lessons where teachers warned children that, as dangerous as illegal drugs could be, the unknown substances that drug dealers mixed with them could be even more dangerous. For example, teachers in the 1980s would tell students that, instead of cocaine, the white powder that… Read More »
How Will The CDC’s New Opioid Prescribing Guidelines Affect Drug Crime?
No one wants to go back to the days of Florida’s pill mills, when if your car had enough life left in it to cross state lines into Florida, you could go to a pain clinic in any strip mall, offer the flimsiest excuse about why you were there, and walk away with enough… Read More »
How to Avoid Legal Trouble When Traveling With Firearms
Is it legal to bring a gun to an airport in Florida? As with so many laws about firearms, it depends. When you see all the warnings in the airport about not transporting forbidden items in carry-on bags or checked luggage, you might assume that making an honest mistake in how you transport the… Read More »
Researchers Publish Study On Fentanyl Vaccine
Fentanyl is scary, and getting criminal charges for drug crimes is scary, so getting criminal charges for possession of fentanyl is the scariest of all. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is about 50 times as strong as morphine; fatal overdoses have been reported where adult victims ingested as little as two milligrams of… Read More »
Which Crimes In Florida Are Most Common During The Holiday Season?
If you meet a police officer at a neighborhood party, and she tells you that she is busier at Thanksgiving and Christmas than other times of year, do not make a joke about how much work it must be to eat the doughnuts with the red and green sprinkles. You may have noticed increased… Read More »
Florida Tianeptine Laws
Call them research chemicals, designer drugs, bath salts, cleaning solvents, or potpourri, but drug analogues are illegal drugs in all but name. Synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic opioids are akin to the homemade copycat versions of Chick-fil-A grilled nuggets or Chipotle barbacoa that you perfected in your kitchen during the COVID-19 lockdown. Sure, you can… Read More »