Richard Paey-- who suffers both multiple sclerosis and from the aftermath of a disastrous and barbaric back surgery that resulted in multiple major malpractice judgments--now receives virtually twice as much morphine in prison than the equivalent in opioid medications for which he was convicted of forging prescriptions.

He had previously been given legitimate prescriptions for the same doses of pain medicine-- but made the mistake of moving to Florida from New Jersey, where he could not find a physician to treat his pain adequately. Each of his medical conditions alone can produce agony. Paey has described his pain as constantly feeling like his legs had been "dipped into a furnace."

"Pain" as Albert Schweitzer once said, "is a more terrible lord of mankind than even death itself." Prolonged pain destroys the quality of life. It can erode the will to live, at times driving people to suicide. The physical effects are equally profound. Severe, persistent pain can impair sleep and appetite, thereby producing fatigue and reducing the availability of nutrients to organs. It may thus impede recovery from illness or injury and, in weakened or elderly patients, may make the difference between life and death.

Who is served by the incarceration of Richard Paey? Certainly not his family, certainly not the taxpayers and absolutely not the image of America as a decent, humane country. Certainly not the interests of pain patients or even drug addicts-- neither of whom benefit from viewing drugs as a criminal justice issue. Not one child will be deterred from taking drugs, nor one mother saved the horror of an overdosed teen because we lock up those who need opioids to relieve their pain.

Governor Crist, please, do the right thing and send Richard Paey home.