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Bluelight Crew
Associated Press (AP) - Jeffrey Pitts is serving a five-year prison sentence for drug trafficking involving only eight to 27 Lortab tablets - prescription-only pills containing a small amount of a controlled substance but mostly made up of the same ingredient found in Tylenol and similar over-the-counter painkillers.
His mother, nurse Paula Pitts, said he's doing time essentially for what she can give a patient during a 12-hour shift at the Panama City hospital where she works.
"Lortabs are what we use for lesser pain," she said. "Every time I medicate a patient I think of my son."
Don't think Pitts' sentence is an aberration - the mandatory minimum sentence for his conviction was three years. It's the kind of harsh punishment that has even many conservative Republicans, including former Gov. Jeb Bush, calling for changes in Florida's tough narcotics laws that are helping fill state prisons with nonviolent drug users and costing the state tens of millions of dollars annually.
But passing any changes won't be easy in a year when lawmakers are facing re-election.
"These folks never want to look weak on crime, and it's really not weak on crime," said Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, a Fort Lauderdale Republican who earlier this year sponsored unsuccessful legislation to abolish minimum mandatory sentences. "The judges can ultimately put somebody away for the maximum sentence. ... They know who the traffickers are and they know who the addicts are and there's a big difference."
Prosecutors and police are skeptical of such proposals and some are outright hostile.
"It's not the time to diminish the consequences of drug trafficking," Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger told a Senate panel. He cited statistics showing about 50 people a week die in Florida from overdosing on prescription drugs.
more http://www.wtsp.com/news/article/214692/19/Some-GOP-politicians-push-to-ease-Fla-drug-laws
His mother, nurse Paula Pitts, said he's doing time essentially for what she can give a patient during a 12-hour shift at the Panama City hospital where she works.
"Lortabs are what we use for lesser pain," she said. "Every time I medicate a patient I think of my son."
Don't think Pitts' sentence is an aberration - the mandatory minimum sentence for his conviction was three years. It's the kind of harsh punishment that has even many conservative Republicans, including former Gov. Jeb Bush, calling for changes in Florida's tough narcotics laws that are helping fill state prisons with nonviolent drug users and costing the state tens of millions of dollars annually.
But passing any changes won't be easy in a year when lawmakers are facing re-election.
"These folks never want to look weak on crime, and it's really not weak on crime," said Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, a Fort Lauderdale Republican who earlier this year sponsored unsuccessful legislation to abolish minimum mandatory sentences. "The judges can ultimately put somebody away for the maximum sentence. ... They know who the traffickers are and they know who the addicts are and there's a big difference."
Prosecutors and police are skeptical of such proposals and some are outright hostile.
"It's not the time to diminish the consequences of drug trafficking," Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger told a Senate panel. He cited statistics showing about 50 people a week die in Florida from overdosing on prescription drugs.
more http://www.wtsp.com/news/article/214692/19/Some-GOP-politicians-push-to-ease-Fla-drug-laws
