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Stop Punishing Pain Sufferers

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 1, 2007

Regarding 'Change Florida's Draconian Drug Trafficking Statute' (Other Views, Sept 26):
Florida legislators all should read Robert Batey's op-ed. He acknowledged the difficulty in fixing Florida antidrug law. So he proposed a compromise: Remove legal opiates from the section that mandates minimum sentences.

Florida antidrug law now mandates minimum sentences for all but the most trivial offenses. The worst effect of such law is to shift courtroom power from the judge and jury to the prosecutor, who preordains the sentence according to the charges he brings. It is especially dicey if the key evidence is testimony by witnesses under the thumb of the prosecutor.

Batey's proposal is not a perfect solution but would lessen prosecutorial abuses against legitimate pain patients and their doctors. Let judges decide those sentences. Surely every judge in Florida knows the difference between trafficking and pain treatment.

JOHN CHASE

Palm Harbor

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