Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Florida Enacts Two Laws Imposing New Restrictions on Cannabis
How legal is cannabis in Florida? Increasingly, it depends when you ask. Cannabis is a hot topic for legislation at the state and local levels. In just a decade, cannabis has gone from being completely illegal in every state to our current confusing, but noticeably 420 friendlier, state of affairs. Some states have given… Read More »
Depositions in Florida Drug Cases
The evidence that the prosecution and defense present at a criminal trial is a surprise to the jury, but it is not a surprise to the defendant. Before the trial, there is a long process where both sides search for and examine evidence and form the arguments that they plan to present at trial. … Read More »
Search Warrant at Indian River County House Leads to Two Arrests on Drug Charges
Robert King and Nicole Ladouceur live on 40th Avenue in Vero Beach. If they lived somewhere else, several important details of the criminal case against them would be different. In April 2023, the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office and Vero Beach Police Department executed a search warrant at King and Ladouceur’s house. During the… Read More »
Proposed Recreational Cannabis Constitutional Amendment Gets Enough Signatures for Ballot Initiative
Compared to a decade ago, there are many more opportunities to smoke weed or eat cannabis edibles in Florida without fear of criminal penalties. Medical cannabis once sounded like something that only made sense when you were high and waiting for the pizza delivery to arrive, but now numerous Floridians have medical cannabis cards… Read More »
The Sixth Amendment And Your Drug Case
In some drug cases, your best hope is to try to enter a pretrial diversion program, which will result in the court dropping the charges against you after you successfully complete the program. Pretrial diversion for drug cases, sometimes known as drug court, is only an option if your charges are for a misdemeanor… Read More »
Florida’s New Law About Nitazenes
This year, Florida enacted a law that adds eight new drugs, all of them synthetic opioids, to the list of Schedule I controlled substances. Schedule I controlled substances are drugs of abuse that are not legal for any medical purposes. Heroin and MDMA are Schedule I controlled substances; so is cannabis, according to federal… Read More »
Three Orange County Men Arrested On Suspicion Of Trafficking Fentanyl Analog
An analog of a drug is a substance that is chemically similar to the original drug and has similar effects, but the chemical composition is different enough that the two substances cannot technically be considered one and the same. In 1986, the federal government enacted the Federal Analog Act, which automatically categorized analogs of… Read More »
Is Kratom The Solution To The Opioid Epidemic?
“Consumer protection” is not a phrase you would expect to find in the name of a Florida law. In Florida, predatory lending reigns supreme, insurance companies twiddling their thumbs for years before addressing claims related to hurricane damage, and business to consumer lawsuits are a frequent occurrence. Meanwhile, Florida’s lawmakers have completed most of… Read More »
Florida Methylone Laws
For about a decade, the media has been warning of the dangers of a drug called “molly,” which may or may not be the same thing as MDMA, which may or may not be the same thing as “ecstasy.” Especially when it comes to pills and powders sold on the Internet, it is hard… Read More »
Beware Of Drug-Free Zones
When you were in high school, you probably saw “drug-free zone” signs posted on the doors and walls of the school. In elementary school and middle school, you took these signs for granted and barely noticed them, but when you were in high school, once you had discovered drugs, the signs were hilarious. You… Read More »
