Aug. 14th, 2007
Guess the state!
Aug. 14th, 2007 03:32 pmOldest news: Man sentenced to 25 years in prison for possession of the amount of Vicodin that his doctor prescribed to him.
Old news: Appeals court judge overturns conviction as completely absurd, notes that jury was never told that *vicodin possession is legal* if you have a prescription.
New news: Prosecutor appeals, refiles charges - because he REALLY wants to get this guy on "trafficking" charges for HAVING HIS OWN PRESCRIPTION.
Bonus points, from the apellate court's ruling:
Old news: Appeals court judge overturns conviction as completely absurd, notes that jury was never told that *vicodin possession is legal* if you have a prescription.
New news: Prosecutor appeals, refiles charges - because he REALLY wants to get this guy on "trafficking" charges for HAVING HIS OWN PRESCRIPTION.
Bonus points, from the apellate court's ruling:
It is impossible to fathom why the Legislature would endeavor to combat the more serious offense of drug trafficking by prescribing harsher penalties for that crime, and yet deprive law enforcement of an important weapon in that battle. Obviously, it would not; to do so would be unreasonable and ridiculous. This is yet another reason why we are obliged to reject the State's literal interpretation of the statute. See Maddox v. State, 923 So.2d 442, 447 (Fla.2006) (stating the courts will not sanction a statutory reading that would lead to unreasonable or ridiculous results); Holly, 450 So.2d at 219; Doe, 948 So.2d at 808.
The State's construction is no less unreasonable in the context of the case before us, involving the drug trafficking prosecution of a man who possessed hydrocodone that he obtained by prescription. At the time of his arrest, O'Hara had 58 Vicodin tablets in his possession, but under the State's theory he would have violated the trafficking law even if he had possessed far fewer. Section 893.135(1)(c)(1)(a) establishes a three-year minimum mandatory prison term for possession of “4 grams or more, but less than 14 grams” of hydrocodone. Under the statute, when a controlled substance is mixed with another substance in a pill, the weight of the controlled substance is deemed to be the total weight of the mixture, “including the controlled substance and any other substance in the mixture.” § 893.135(6). One prescription Vicodin tablet contains 5 milligrams of hydrocodone and 500 milligrams of acetaminophen, the drug sold under the brand name Tylenol. See Physicians' Drug Reference, 526 (59th ed., Thompson 2005). For purposes of the trafficking statute, then, each tablet would be deemed to contain 505 milligrams of the controlled substance. Therefore, to exceed the minimum drug trafficking threshold of four grams would require only eight of these tablets. FN2
FN2. Vicodin is produced in other forms and strengths. Vicodin ES tablets contain 7.5 milligrams of hydrocodone and 750 milligrams of acetaminophen. Physicians' Drug Reference at 527. Vicodin HP contains 10 milligrams of hydrocodone and 660 milligrams of acetaminophen. Id. at 528. Vicoprofen contains 7.5 milligrams of hydrocodone and 200 milligrams of ibuprofen. Id. at 529.
The dosage recommended by Vicodin's manufacturer is one or two tablets every four to six hours, not to exceed eight per day. Id. at 527. If we were to accept the State's assertion that there is no prescription exception to the offense of drug trafficking by possession, then we would have to conclude that any person who leaves a pharmacy with only one day's worth of properly prescribed Vicodin in hand is guilty of drug trafficking and subject to at least a three-year minimum mandatory prison term and a fine of at least $50,000. One of the doctors who appeared at O'Hara's trial testified that in the course of his practice he had written prescriptions for up to 60 Vicodin tablets. Under the trafficking statute, that many Vicodin tablets would be deemed to contain over 30 grams of hydrocodone. According to the State's reasoning in this case, any patient who had the doctor's prescription filled was subject to a twenty-five year minimum mandatory prison term and a mandatory fine of $500,000. See § 893.135(c)(1)(c) (specifying penalty for possessing 28 grams or more, but less than 30 kilograms).
Friday Tradition!
Aug. 14th, 2007 11:26 pmThis one is, uh... hard to describe.
Just queue it up and listen without thinking about it too much, at first. It's a kind of rock-reggae fusion, by someone called Pato Banton, who I've never heard of.
Enjoy!
Just queue it up and listen without thinking about it too much, at first. It's a kind of rock-reggae fusion, by someone called Pato Banton, who I've never heard of.
Enjoy!




