Carrying Prescriptions and The Facts of Drug Trafficking in Florida

When most people hear the words “drug trafficking,” they think of people in the news, like Pablo Escobar (“El Chapo”) or Joaquin Guzman. However, the reality of drug trafficking is much closer to home.  Despite the common depiction in mass media, drug trafficking charges are not exclusive to criminal masterminds, armed drug dealers or career criminals. In fact, Florida has very serious drug trafficking laws that don’t necessarily require buying or selling large amounts of drugs. In Florida, the law only requires you to be in possession of a certain threshold weight of a controlled substance or drug in order to be found guilty of drug trafficking. It’s important to be aware that the weight threshold is not the weight of the pure drug; it is the total weight of the pill, powder or other material that the drug is mixed in with.

The harshest example of unlawful drug possession is pain pills. Percocet, which is oxycodone mixed with acetaminophen (Tylenol), comes in several varieties, including 10/650, which is 10mg of oxycodone and 650 mg of acetaminophen. Together with fillers, like cornstarch, these pills weigh close to 1 gram each. Possession of 7 grams of pills containing any oxycodone is the threshold to trigger the drug trafficking statute. A handful of pills that in total weigh 7 grams or more and that contain any oxycodone is a first-degree felony, punishable by a minimum of 3 years in prison and a $50,000 fine with a maximum of 30 years in prison. The numbers only increase from there. Possession of 14 to 25 grams of pills is a 7-year mandatory minimum in prison with a $100,000 fine, and 25 to 100 grams is a 15-year mandatory minimum and a $750,000 fine.

Hydrocodone, commonly known as Vicodin or Lorcet, is also mixed with fillers and acetaminophen. Any pills with hydrocodone that weigh, in total, more than 14 grams but less than 28 grams triggers the trafficking statute, which is a 1st-degree felony with a 3-year mandatory minimum prison sentence and $50,000 fine.  Twenty-eight to 50 grams triggers the 7-year sentence, and 50 to 200 grams triggers the 15-year minimum sentence.

There are other mandatory minimum trafficking sentences for more traditional “hard” drugs like heroin or opium, with a 4-gram threshold for trafficking; cocaine, with a 28 gram or one-ounce threshold; and marijuana, with a very large threshold of 25 pounds or more than 300 plants. All of the minimum sentences for trafficking with threshold weights can be found by searching Florida Statute 893.135.

With the entire country suffering from an opioid epidemic, it is understandable that the Florida legislature has taken a very strong stance on the purchase, sale and possession of these substances.  However, it should be emphasized that merely possessing small amounts of these pills without a prescription or carrying them under someone else’s name, can lead to very serious consequences, including long mandatory prison sentences. If you need further information or have questions, feel free to call the experienced Gainesville, Florida’s criminal defense attorneys at Avera & Smith.