The TASER was meant to be an alternative to using lethal force. But with increasing regularity, officers are using them as cattle prods to make people toe the line. Now, a Florida officer has been suspended for using one as a torture device on a suspected drug dealer.

Antonio Wheeler, 18, was arrested Friday on a drug charge and taken to an emergency room after telling officers he had consumed cocaine, police said.

At Florida Hospital, Wheeler refused to provide a urine sample and was handcuffed and secured with leather straps to a bed, where hospital workers tried to catheterize him, a police affidavit said.

Officer Peter Linnenkamp reported he jumped onto the bed with his knees on Wheeler's chest to restrain him. When Wheeler still refused to be catheterized, Linnenkamp said he twice used his Taser, which sends 50,000 volts into a target.

I cannot think of any justification for using a gun on a suspect that is handcuffed and strapped to a bed. Patience is a virtue. If the officer really wanted a urine sample, all he had to do was wait. Or are we regressing to the good ol' days when cops closed the door and forcibly beat information out of suspects?