Florida Criminal Lawyer Blog

Earlier this month, Gainesville, Florida’s “bong bill” went into effect, which bans the sale of bongs, pipes, and other devices used for smoking marijuana in stores that earn 25% or more of their annual revenue from these types of products. These types of stores are called “head shops.” Stores with a smaller focus on bongs and a more diverse product line are not affected.

Already, a class-action lawsuit has been filed that questions the law’s constitutionality, since it’s aimed at criminalizing behavior, but only at a certain type of business. One lawyer likened it to police being selective about what types of cars they pull over for speeding, which is not fair to drivers.

However, because there’s a legal precedent for regulating tobacco and alcohol-related products, it’s likely that the bill will stand. If that happens, people may continue purchasing these products by going to different stores or driving to other cities that don’t have such strict regulations.

Source: ‘Bong bill’ affects head shops, Alligator.org, July 6, 2010

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Attorneys at our Florida law firm have learned that the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy is organizing a drive to pass a proposed amendment about marijuana possession in Miami Beach. If passed, the amendment would make personal possession of marijuana a civil code violation punishable by a city-levied fine of $100.

According to Florida law, possession of less than 20 grams of pot is a misdemeanor. The current maximum sentence for possessing small quantities of pot is a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

The Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy has already succeeded in passing a similar ballot initiative in Massachusetts in 2008. Legal experts point out that even if Florida voters pass the pot initiative, it could get shot down at the state or federal level.

Source: Campaign under way to decriminalize marijuana in Miami Beach, Miami Herald, June 17, 2010

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In Weston, Florida, locals say there’s a distant aroma of marijuana. Some even created a Facebook page called “That Damn Weed Smell on Weston Rd. and Blatt Blvd.” The page was created in late April and has already received over a thousand “likes.” However, most of the residents who swear it’s pot are local high school students.

The Weston Police Department investigated the odor and did not find evidence of marijuana plants, so NBC Miami decided to launch their own investigation. They brought in a local gardening expert, who took a whiff and determined that the smell is a combination of Verbenas and Society Garlic, not pot as some residents believed.

Another conspiracy theory gone to pot!

Source: Mystery Smell In Weston: Is It Pot or Not?, NBCMiami.com, May 18, 2010

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According to a report from Florida's medical examiners, deaths from illegal drugs on the decline, while fatal overdoses from prescription drug abuse is on the rise. Deaths from cocaine overdose went down 23% in 2008, while deaths from the painkiller oxycodone increased by 33%.

Prescription drugs accounted for three quarters of the drugs found in overdose victims. Oxycodone is reportedly the most popular drug in the black-market pill trade supplied by pill clinics, although many drug-related deaths involve dangerous drug interactions. The office of Broward County's medical examiner detected oxydocone in 171 overdose deaths in 2008.

New laws on prescription drug monitoring went into effect last week, but the prescription database designed to detect addicts getting drugs from multiple doctors is not expected to be operational until late 2011.

Source: Prescription drug overdose deaths soar, Merced Sun Star, April 10, 2010

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Each year on April 20, marijuana legalization advocates gather to celebrate 4/20, the annual celebration and mass civil disobedience inspired by "420" (insider slang for smoking cannabis). In Northern California, several hundred people gathered outside of a IGrow, a 15,000-square-foot cultivation equipment emporium, to observe "420 Eve."

Revelers lit up joints inside a stretch Hummer parked outside the superstore and explored booths with pot-related merchandise like pipe-shaped lollipops. The store also has a doctor working three days a week to evaluate people who might be candidates for medical marijuana.

The celebratory vibe is felt elsewhere in the country, as four cable television channels present programming around 420 and pot-smoking culture.

Source: Pot smokers out, proud for 4/20 high holiday, Palm Beach Post, April 20, 2010

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Last month, Florida lawmakers approved a new bill that will make it more difficult to sell carburetor pipes, chillums, and chillers in the state. Ironically, most members of the House Finance and Tax Council aren't sure exactly what these items are, but they approved the bill 16-0.

"Head shops" claim they are selling paraphernalia to smoke tobacco, but lawmakers say those items are actually used to inhale marijuana and crack. The bill (HB 187) will prohibit Florida retailers from selling pipes, including those made of metal, wood, acrylic, ceramic, glass, stone, or plastic, unless at least three quarters of their sales are tobacco.

It's also interesting to note that while the federal government bans the importation of drug paraphernalia, the state of Florida allows their sale once they're in the state.

Source: 'Head shops' the target of bill limiting the sale of pipes to tobacco shops, Palm Beach Post, March 11, 2010.

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Authorities in Broward and Palm Beach say they anticipate a lengthy investigation of three South Florida pain clinics that are suspected of illegally distributing prescription meds, including the incredibly addictive oxycodone pills. Such clinics have been called "pill mills" by some Florida investigators.

All three clinics are owned by the same twin brothers. One of the clinics, called American Pain, had been operating for just five weeks before authorities raided the pain clinic, taking several boxes with them. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration and police from Broward and Palm Beach counties participated in the raid.

Documents from the 14-month investigation allege that the clinic attracted people from other states who would take pills back to their home state and sell them at a huge markup. The five doctors working full-time at the clinics allegedly distributed more than 2 million oxycodone pills last year. No criminal charges have been filed yet, but the investigation continues.

Source: Feds Raid Pain Clinics Suspected of Illegally Distributing Millions of Prescription Drugs, ABC News, March 8, 2010

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Our Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorneys have learned that Oliver McCall, the former world heavyweight champion was arrested earlier this month on a drug offense. According to Fort Lauderdale police, McCall was arrested on cocaine possession charges and is also charged with violating probation for a previous offense.

The 44-year-old fighter has had previous drug-related issues and served jail time for charges including crack cocaine possession.

Some boxing experts predict the arrest could mark the beginning of the end for McCall, who has since been removed from headlining an eight-fight card that was scheduled for last Tuesday. However, McCall's son Elijah will still be part of the fight.

Sources: Former world heavyweight champion Oliver McCall arrested in Fort Lauderdale, South Florida Sun Sentinel, February 15, 2010

Former Heavyweight Champs in Trouble, About.com, February 16, 2010

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Twenty years ago, Miami set up the nation's first drug court as a way to get nonviolent offenders into court-supervised drug rehab programs instead of spending time in jail. Now over 2,300 drug courts have sprung up around the country, and the Obama administration hopes to boost funding to drug courts, because these specialized courts are currently only available to a very small percentage of drug offenders.

The problem, according to advocates for drug courts, is a lack of money. There are currently about 1.2 million drug-addicted offenders and the $64 million in federal funds received by drug courts this year are not enough to treat all those who need it. The drug court association says that would take about $1.5 billion over six years, as well as matching funding from states.

Some defense attorneys say that prosecutors tend not to choose defendants with serious drug problems and that requiring defendants to plead guilty in order to get into drug courts is unfair. Still, there is evidence that the programs are working. About three quarters of drug court graduates remain arrest-free for at least two years after completing the program.

Source: Drug courts successful for few who get in, Associated Press, November 30, 2009

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Our Palm Beach and Broward County Drug Defense Attorneys recently read in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that Cuban refugees are dominating the Florida's indoor marijuana trade. According to the article, hundreds of growhouses have sprung up since 2005 and supervisors for the South Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area approximate that as much as 90 percent of those arrested on grow-house-related marijuana charges are Cubans who arrived in the US within the past five years.

In Palm Beach, 90 to 95% of the arrests as part of drug busts called "D-Day" and "Eagle Claw" were Cuban. And in Miami-Dade, 95% were Cubans. That trend is reversed in Broward County, where only 11% of the arrests in 2008 and 2009 involved Cuban refugees.

Since there is no central database for sharing information about pot grow houses among police agencies, many Florida cops do not know much about the industry. Often when police raid a grow house, they arrest low level workers rather than their bosses or ringleaders. Authorities say that many of those involved in the illegal drug trade escape serious punishment because US policy does not allow the deportation of Cubans and many keep the number of marijuana plants under 100 to avoid tougher federal sentences.

Cubans dominate illegal pot grow house trade in Florida, drug and law enforcement officials say, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, October 30, 2009

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A new bill passed during the spring legislative session, House Bill 29, makes it a first-degree misdemeanor for landlords to permit tenants to connect utilities themselves. Judges are mandated to accept an unpermitted electrical junction as proof of intent to violate the law. Stealing utility services to manufacture a controlled substance such as marijuana is also now a first-degree misdemeanor.

Several weeks ago, investigators discovered a marijuana grow house in Lorida after an electrical transformer blew. Inside the house, they found 341 marijuana plants, grow lights CO2 generators, and other items. The tenant was charged with producing and trafficking of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

A representative of Glades Electric estimates that over $80,000 worth of electricity was stolen. The diversion was wired so it appears that the house uses a normal amount of electricity when in actuality, the monthly bill should be around $2,000 per month. These grow houses cost the company over $1 million every year.

New grow house law targets landlords, Highlands Today, May 21, 2009

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Last week in South Florida, the Broward County Sheriff's Office sent a letter to judges and attorneys stating that inmates would no longer have access to substance abuse treatment, anger management, computer skills, and other training programs due to budget cuts. These programs are commonly used in Broward County for drug possession cases, domestic violence battery cases, felony battery cases and violation of probation cases.

Those programs will end by August 1, saving around $2.2 million. Broward County officials asked the Department of Community Control to reduce its budget by $50 million for the fiscal year starting October 1.

More than a fifth of Broward County's jail population used those programs, and some inmates got reduced jail sentences after completing treatment programs for drug abuse. While some inmates will still be able to participate in voluntary programs like Alcoholics Anonymous, reduced sentences will no longer be an option, which some worry could lead to overcrowding. Broward County is already under court order to avoid overcrowding in its prisons.

Broward sheriff wants to end inmate treatment programs to save money, South Florida Sun Sentinel, May 14, 2009.

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After three decades in Miami-Dade County, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has relocated to a vacant pharmaceutical office complex near Weston Road in Weston. The DEA was evicted from its old headquarters in Doral, which is being converted into a city center.

Affordability of rent and convenient access to South Florida's highways were both factors in the decision to relocate to Broward County; however the new geography of South Florida's drug trade was also a consideration. Drug activity in South Florida is no longer centered around Miami, as it has spread to the suburbs of Broward and Palm Beach counties.

In fact, when federal authorities arrested the leader of a Colombian drug ring three years ago, their raids took them to a Weston storage unit. Family members of the drug lord were living quietly in Broward County, according to prosecutors.

However, some worry that the DEA will out of place in Weston, since there are no prisons or courthouses nearby. However, the DEA will also maintain outposts in Miami, West Palm Beach, and Fort Lauderdale. A city commissioner for Weston said he predicts that the move will be an economic boon for the town.

DEA moves to Weston: In upscale Broward city, the new neighbors are narcs, South Florida Sun Sentinel, May 5, 2009

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