The Osceola Recovery Project said while they’re not against prosecuting at all, there’s another side to this where people fighting addiction are seeking out fentanyl.

Crystal Hernandez is running the first drop-in rehabilitation center in Osceola County.

READ: Man receives longest fentanyl-related sentence in Seminole County history

“The whole situation is tragic,” she said. “It’s sad we lost someone to overdose, it’s sad someone lost their life and they’re going to be in prison.”

However, she said the law itself isn’t so black and white.

“If they got surprise fentanyl and they died absolutely lock them up and throw away the key,” Hernandez said. “But if they were looking for fentanyl and they got fentanyl maybe not throw away the key.”

READ: The unintended consequences of a Florida law meant to help victims

Hernandez said that’s because there are people she’s seeing seeking it out.

“We have the other population who is buying fentanyl on purpose, making sure they get fentanyl because their tolerance is so high that’s all they can use now,” she said. “The way addiction works, you want the strongest best stuff for your buck.”

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She said, oftentimes, the dealer is a person in an active addiction.

“Oftentimes, it’s just another addict who is trying to support their habit by any means necessary,” she said. “my purpose in life is to help people with addiction and that includes dealers sometimes.”

The Controlled Substances Bill signed into law last year increased sentences for drug dealers caught in Florida selling fentanyl or meth. It also gives prosecutors the ability to charge dealers with first-degree murder if meth led to an overdose death. They could also be charged with a capital crime and receive the death penalty if convicted.

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