Florida’s Carfentanil Epidemic
Even in our analog childhood, children had a flair for hyperbole. If you and your neighbor were having a boasting match about how much your respective pet hamsters could eat, “My hamster ate a strawberry,” countered by, “Well, my hamster ate a watermelon,” could easily escalate into, “My hamster ate Palm Beach County,” followed by, “My hamster ate the universe.” Today, thanks to YouTube videos with chatbots on their production teams, curious kids can easily rattle off the powers of ten beyond quadrillion in ways that our generation never could. It isn’t too far-fetched to say that we are observing a similar phenomenon with the potency of drugs. For decades, heroin was the hardest of hard drugs, 50 times as strong as morphine. Then came fentanyl, which is 100 times as strong as morphine, but that is not the only thing that makes fentanyl so scary. The trouble with fentanyl is that it is so inexpensive that drug dealers can add minuscule amounts of it to almost any drug, from counterfeit opioid pills to cocaine to cannabis, to maximize their profits, and buyers do not know this until it is too late. Forensic labs in Miami have seen an increase this year of an opioid even stronger than fentanyl. Here, our Miami drug crimes defense lawyer explains recent trends in cases involving carfentanil, a synthetic opioid used in veterinary medicine.
The Legal and Medical History of Carfentanil
Carfentanil has existed for decades; its use in veterinary medicine long predates the introduction of synthetic opioids in the illegal drug supply. The drug was first synthesized in 1974 and approved for use as a veterinary tranquilizer in 1986, under the brand name Wildnil. It is 10,000 times as strong as morphine, making it 100 times the potency of fentanyl. Therefore, the medical community never considered that it would be practical for use in humans. It has always been a Schedule I controlled substance. Instead, it is a tranquilizer for the largest animals, including domestic animals like cattle and horses, as well as wild animals like elephants, rhinoceroses, and hippopotamuses.
The first signs of trouble with carfentanil began in 1986, soon after its approval for use in veterinary medicine. A vet was trying to pour carfentanil liquid into a syringe to administer it to an animal he was trying to anesthetize, when several drops of the liquid splashed into his eyes and mouth, in a textbook cautionary tale about why one should wear goggles and masks in such situations. The vet immediately began showing signs of opioid intoxication and quickly lost consciousness. Medical personnel administered naltrexone, and the vet survived. Opioid reversal drugs like naloxone are effective against even the strongest opioids.
How Did Miami End Up With So Much Carfentanil?
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) operates forensics labs around the country, but the one in Miami is one of the busiest, because so many drug shipments arrive by sea in South Florida. Cocaine put Miami’s drug culture on the map in the 1980s, and the DEA still seizes plenty of cocaine, but fentanyl and carfentanil are the biggest causes of concern these days. A DEA chemist from the Miami lab told the Tampa Bay 28 new website that, in the past few months, she has seen more drug powders test positive for carfentanil. The drug powders that contain carfentanil are usually not labeled as such; sometimes they claim to be fentanyl.
The DEA chemist attributes the carfentanil masquerading as fentanyl to changes in Chinese laws meant to curb the illegal trade in drugs. China recently enacted laws restricting the export of fentanyl. Therefore, drug supply networks found an inexpensive alternative in carfentanil, which they can source by diverting it from the supply meant for legal use in veterinary medicine. As with fentanyl, drug mixtures containing carfentanil can look like almost anything, and the drug mixtures can be labeled as though they contain almost any drug of abuse.
Possible Defenses to Charges of Trafficking in Carfentanil
If police accuse you of participating in a carfentanil trafficking operation, simply saying that you did not know that it was carfentanil is not a valid excuse; almost everyone who has been caught in possession of carfentanil knew that they were buying an illegal drug. Instead, you should base your defense strategy on the fact that the evidence against you is insufficient. For example, if a package of drugs was addressed to you, you might have had no idea why someone would have sent it and no intention to consume or resell the drugs. You could also find flaws in the state’s compliance with the laws of criminal procedure and the rights of defendants in criminal cases.
Contact Our Criminal Defense Attorneys
A South Florida criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing criminal charges for illegal possession or distribution of synthetic opioids. Contact Ratzan & Faccidomo in Miami, Florida for a confidential consultation about your case.
Source:
tampabay28.com/news/state/its-scary-deas-florida-drug-lab-sounds-alarm-as-fentanyl-and-carfentanil-make-frightening-comebacks
