In related news, rumors are floating that a legal dream team is running up a tab well into 7 figures.
And how much are Florida taxpayers spending to put Rush in jail? How many taxpayer-funded public servants are working this case? Don't forget, the government can financially ruin almost anyone just by making them spend money to counter their endless stream of legal challenges their own tax dollars help pay for. Even a case they know they will lose can ruin a person, if that's their real intent.
First-time drug convictions, when there is no other crime involved, are usually handled with probation and treatment. Oxycontin is a worthwhile drug for some kinds of intractable pain. But it's also abuseable because some of the genuine painful conditions can't be seen on any kind of current medical tests. Oxy addicts have a long list of non-testable complaints they can lay on a doctor in the hope of scoring a script. Rush had known, genuine conditions that indicated that oxycontin would be appropriate. The problem was that he went on into addiction, a problem with a number of legitimate drugs if not carefully monitored.