TAMPA, Fla — According to the CDC, drug overdose deaths stay excessive throughout the nation and artificial opioids, are the main driver.
The CDC also reports that Florida is second in the nation when it comes to overdose deaths.
It’s one thing extra rural elements of the state, like Gadsden county, are coping with for the first time. Law enforcement there inform ABC Action News they can not combat it alone.
“We have requested for help from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office—we particularly requested for help in coaching coping with deaths, and investigations involving overdoses, particularly these involving fentanyl,” said Colonel Bobby Collins, Law Enforcement Bureau Chief Gadsden County.
Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office told ABC Action News that investigators will head to Gadsden County on Monday to assist in a training course which will help address the epidemic plaguing communities across the country.
“It’s a huge problem here in the Tampa Bay area,” mentioned Ellen Snelling, the Board Chair of the Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance.
Data from the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner Department confirmed drug overdoses in the final decade have been on a gentle incline.
“In 2021, all the pieces was headed up with fentanyl as the main driver for overdoses,” Snelling added.
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She told me her focus is raising awareness on what drugs can do, hoping families don’t go through the same thing she did.
“I misplaced my brother to a fentanyl overdose. It was in, he was utilizing heroin at the time, he didn’t know there’s fentanyl in it. It killed him. So I really feel, my coronary heart breaks for the households affected,” Snelling explained.
The CDC reports more than 7,000 people in Florida died from drug overdose in 2020.
Snelling said as drug overdoses continue to rise it’s crucial people take extra precautions.
“I’ve two narcan containers in my home. And I feel everybody ought to have narcan. That’s the level we’re at proper now,” Snelling mentioned.