HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FINAL BILL ANALYSIS BILL #: CS/HB 477 FINAL HOUSE FLOOR ACTION: SUBJECT/SHORT Controlled Substances 118 Y’s 0 N’s TITLE SPONSOR(S): Boyd and others GOVERNOR’S Approved ACTION: COMPANION CS/CS/CS/SB 150 BILLS: SUMMARY ANALYSIS CS/HB 477 passed the House on April 20, 2017. The bill was amended in the Senate on May 3, 2017, and returned to the House. The House refused to concur in the Senate amendment on May 4, 2017, and returned the bill to the Senate. The Senate receded and passed the House Bill on May 5, 2017. Chapter 893, F.S., entitled the, “Florida Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act,” (“Act”), regulates the manufacture, distribution, preparation, and dispensing of controlled substances. The Act classifies such substances into five schedules, based on the substance’s “potential for abuse” and whether the substance has a currently accepted medical use.The Act also specifies criminal penalties for the unlawful possession, sale, purchase, manufacture, delivery, and trafficking of the scheduled substances. The bill amends the Act to enhance existing and create new penalties for unlawful acts relating to opioids, synthetic cannabinoids, and other controlled substances. Specifically, the bill: Adds to Schedule I certain fentanyl derivatives and five substances that were originally developed for legitimate research, but that have emerged in the illegal drug market. Creates a first degree felony offense for the possession of 10 grams or more of certain Schedule II substances, including fentanyl and other synthetic opioid analgesics. Adds codeine and certain phenethylamines and phencyclidines to existing law punishing trafficking in such classes of controlled substances. Creates trafficking offenses for fentanyl, synthetic cannabinoids, and n-benzyl phenethylamines, which are punishable by mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment and fines. The bill also amends the murder statute, s. 782.04, F.S., to add fentanyl and other related synthetic opioid analgesics to the list of controlled substances for which distribution that is proven to be the proximate cause of a user’s death is punishable as capital murder. Finally, the bill authorizes laboratory personnel for the statewide criminal analysis laboratory system to possess and administer emergency opioid antagonists used to treat opioid overdoses and creates s. 893.015, F.S., to provide that a reference in any section of the Florida Statutes to chapter 893, F.S., or to any section or portion of a section of chapter 893, F.S., includes all subsequent amendments. The Criminal Justice Impact Conference determined that this bill will have a positive indeterminate impact on prison beds, meaning the bill is expected to increase the need for prison beds by an unquantifiable number. The bill was approved by the Governor on June 14, 2017, ch. 2017-107, L.O.F., and will become effective on October 1, 2017. This document does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives. STORAGE NAME: h0477z1.CRJ DATE: June 19, 2017 I. SUBSTANTIVE INFORMATION A. EFFECT OF CHANGES: Present Situation Regulation of Controlled Substances Chapter 893, F.S., entitled the, “Florida Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act,” (“Act”), regulates the manufacture, distribution, preparation, and dispensing of controlled substances. The Act classifies such substances into five schedules, based on the substance’s “potential for abuse”1 and whether the substance has a currently accepted medical use.2 The controlled substance schedules are as follows: Schedule I substances have a high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use in the United States (includes substances such as cannabis and heroin).3 Schedule II substances have a high potential for abuse and a currently accepted but severely restricted medical use in the United States (includes substances such as raw opium, fentanyl, and codeine).4 Schedule III substances have a potential for abuse less than the substances contained in Schedules I and II and a currently accepted medical use in the United States (includes substances such as stimulants and anabolic steroids).5 Schedule IV substances have a low potential for abuse relative to substances in Schedule III and a currently accepted medical use in the United States (includes substances such as benzodiazepines and barbiturates).6 Schedule V substances have a low potential for abuse relative to the substances in Schedule IV and a currently accepted medical use in the United States (includes substances such as mixtures that contain small quantities of opiates, narcotics, or stimulants).7 Chapter 893, F.S., contains a variety of provisions criminalizing behavior related to controlled substances. Most of these provisions are found in s. 893.13, F.S., which criminalizes and provides the penalties for the unlawful possession, sale, purchase, manufacture, and delivery of controlled substances. In general, the severity of the penalty for a violation of these provisions depends on the schedule in which the controlled substance is listed.8 Other factors such as the quantity of the controlled substance involved or the location where the violation occurs may also enhance the penalties for a violation of ch. 893.13, F.S. Additionally, s. 893.135, F.S., provides penalties for drug trafficking offenses, including mandatory minimum sentences and fines, which increase in severity as the quantity of the controlled substance involved increases. In an effort to regulate emerging substances that are not yet included in the schedules, the Legislature created s. 893.0356, F.S., commonly called the Analog Statute, to prohibit drugs that are substantially similar to those prohibited by statute.9 Under the law a “controlled substance analog” is defined as: A substance that, due to its chemical structure and potential for abuse, is substantially similar to that of a controlled substance listed in Schedule I or Schedule II of s. 893.03, F.S.; and 1 Section 893.035(3)(a), F.S., defines “potential for abuse” to mean that a substance has properties as a central nervous system stimulant or depressant or a hallucinogen which create a substantial likelihood of its being: 1) used in amounts that create a hazard to the user’s health or safety of the community; 2) diverted from legal channels and distributed through illegal channels; or 3) taken on the user’s own initiative rather than on the basis of professional medical advice. 2 See s. 893.03, F.S. 3 s. 893.03(1), F.S. 4 s. 893.03(2), F.S. 5 s. 893.03(3), F.S. 6 s. 893.03(4), F.S. 7 s. 893.03(5), F.S. 8 See s. 893.13, F.S. 9 The Analog Statute, created in 1987, is largely modeled after the federal Controlled Substance Analogue Enforcement Act under 21 U.S.C. § 802(32)(A). STORAGE NAME: h0477z1.CRJ PAGE: 2 DATE: June 19, 2017 Either has or is represented to have a stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogenic effect on the central nervous system substantially similar to or greater than that of a controlled substance listed in Schedule I or Schedule II of s. 893.03, F.S.10 The Analog Statute requires the controlled substance analog to be treated the same as the highest scheduled controlled substance in s. 893.03, F.S., of which it is an analog, for the purposes of determining criminal penalties.11 The Analog Statute specifies that a “controlled substance analog” does not include: A controlled substance; Any substance for which there is an approved new drug application; Any compound, mixture, or preparation that contains any controlled substance which is not for administration to a human being or animal, and which is packaged in such form or concentration, or with adulterants or denaturants, so that as packaged it does not present any significant potential for abuse; or Any substance to which an investigation exemption applies under s. 505 of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. § 355, but only to the extent that conduct with respect to the substance is pursuant to such exemption.12 Fentanyl and Related Drugs Fentanyl, carfentanil,13 alfentanil,14 and sufentanil15 are Schedule II controlled substances.16 Florida law punishes the possession of these controlled substances as a third degree felony,17, 18 and the possession with intent to sell, manufacture, or deliver, or the sale, manufacture, or delivery of these controlled substances as a second degree felony.19, 20 Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid analgesic that is approximately 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine.21 When prescribed by a physician, fentanyl is typically used to treat patients with severe pain or to manage pain after surgery and is administered via injection, transdermal patch, or in lozenges.22 Although prescription fentanyl can be misused, most overdoses and related deaths have been linked to illicitly manufactured fentanyl, including fentanyl analogs.23 Such illicitly manufactured fentanyl is produced in clandestine laboratories and can be sold as a powder, spiked on blotter paper, mixed with heroin, or as tablets made to look like other less potent opioids.24 10 s. 893.0356(2)(a), F.S. 11 s. 893.0356(5), F.S. 12 s. 893.0356(20(b), F.S. 13 Carfentanil was first developed in the 1970s and is only routinely used as an anesthetic for elephants and other large animals. Erika Kinetz & Desmond Butler, Chemical Weapon for sale: China’s unregulated narcotic, AP TOP NEWS, October 07, 2016, available at https://apnews.com/7c85cda5658e46f3a3be95a367f727e6. 14 Alfentanil is a fentanyl derivative opioid anesthetic, which has a faster onset of action, and also the shorter duration of action than fentanyl. PUBMED, Clinical uses of fentanyl, sufentanil, and alfentanil, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1834393 (last visited February 22, 2017).