The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics for 2011 indicate an increase in Americans fatalities from prescription painkiller overdoses. Many Americans associate death by drug overdose with cocaine, heroine and other street drugs, but medical drugs can be just as lethal. Opioids, once only used for cancer patients, are now used in mainstream medicine...
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Tampa Bay Lightning player Ryan Malone arrested for DUI and felony possession of cocaine.
Tampa Bay Lightning hockey player Ryan Malone was arrested for DUI and possession of cocaine early this morning. The incident allegedly happened in South Tampa. These are very serious charges as a DUI carries a number of penalties and can affect your employment, car insurance, criminal record, and result in a license suspension. Possession of...
Read MoreProposed medical marijuana amendment approved by Florida Supreme Court. How will it affect criminal cases
The medical marijuana amendment has made it to Florida’s ballot in time for the next governor’s election. Voter polls currently indicate that the amendment will pass easily and medical marijuana will become legal in the state of Florida. How will this affect criminal cases? The potential effect on the police, when law enforcement can search...
Read MoreIs it Legal for Police to Lure Drug Dealers Into Buying Drugs?
Usually, people think it is fine to do whatever is needed to catch “the bad guys”. However, lest we forget, those bad guys have rights. Sunrise, Florida is the scene of a recent story about the nearly unprecedented lengths to which police will go to catch and arrest drug dealers. The city's narcotics unit routinely...
Read MorePolk County officer stops you for no valid reason can the criminal charges be thrown out
Previously I wrote about Florida’s Noise statute being declared unconstitutional. That statute was often used by deputies to pull your car over in order to search your vehicle. This week the Fifth District Court of Appeal overruled a circuit court order when the police officer pulled the driver over for having no mirror on their...
Read MoreFlorida Supreme Court upholds Florida’s Drug law ruling it Constitutional.
Recently, a federal court ruled that Section 893.13, part of the Florida Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act was unconstitutional because it did not require “knowledge” as an element of the criminal offense. What does that mean? Basically, it means that the prosecutor, in order to convict of numerous drug crime such as possession...
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