Bill would make meth dealers eligible for the death penalty
Sen. Jason Brodeur
A measure designed to make it easier to charge methamphetamine dealers with first-degree murder is headed to the Senate floor.
The Senate Rules Committee voted 10-6 on February 15 to approve SB 190 by Sen. Jason Brodeur, R-Lake Mary.
The measure would add methamphetamine to the list of controlled substances enumerated in a 1972 law that makes adult dealers subject to first-degree murder charges when their product is the “proximate” cause of a fatal overdose.
Responding to critics who called for treatment instead of harsher penalties, Brodeur said the measure addresses just one part of a much larger problem.
“This deals with the very narrow section of law enforcement,” he said. “We know we need more education; we know we need more treatment; we know we need more recovery.”
Sen. Audrey Gibson, D-Jacksonville, warned the measure would fill prisons with low-level dealers, and allow wholesalers to continue flooding urban neighborhoods with drugs.
“Let’s target the big guys,” she said. “And let’s help the little guys get treatment.”
But Brodeur argued the measure would give prosecutors the leverage they need to get street dealers to roll over on their suppliers.
“By putting penalties on some of the smaller guys, we are able to find out who some of the bigger guys are,” Brodeur said.
The bill is watered-down version of an original proposal that would have made it easier to charge any drug dealer with first-degree murder when a customer dies of an overdose.
The original proposal replaced the “proximate” cause standard with “substantial factor.” Experts say the change would eliminate a common stumbling block to prosecution that occurs when traces of multiple substances are found in an overdose victim’s blood.
Critics on both sides of the aisle blasted another provision that would add drug treatment centers to schools, playgrounds, churches, and other so called “drug-free zones” — where penalties for sale or possession are greatly enhanced.
The provision was recommended by the Statewide Task Force on Opioid Abuse that Gov. Ron DeSantis created in 2019.
Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, said the measure would only expand a failed “war on drugs.”
“One of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” Brandes said. “This policy doesn’t work.”
SB 190 heads next to the Senate floor. A House companion, HB 95 by Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, cleared the Judiciary Committee 14-6 on February 13. It awaits final passage on the House calendar.
The 60-day session adjourns March 11.
