How much does it take to be charged with trafficking in Florida?

Each controlled substance has its own trafficking threshold, and they aren't proportional to each other. Some require a substantial quantity. For others — particularly opioids and fentanyl analogues — the threshold is measured in a handful of grams.

That disparity produces the situation that surprises people most: a quantity consistent with personal use for one substance is a trafficking weight for another.

Two things about how weight is calculated. For some substances the statute measures the total weight of the mixture rather than the pure drug, so filler counts. And prescription pills are weighed as pills — the entire tablet, not the controlled ingredient — which is why a relatively small number can reach a threshold.

Weight is provable and contestable. It comes from a lab, using equipment, following procedures, and all three can be examined.