- April 26, 2024
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Florida leads the U.S. in the number of people who overdose while on vacation, and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said that's a statistic state and local officials seek to change.
"This is something that sometimes gets lost in the discussion, when we're talking about how to secure our beaches and how to make sure we're reducing crime," said Moody during a press conference in Daytona Beach on Tuesday, March 19. "But somewhere in all of these discussions, we lose sight of the fact that many equate spring break with drug use."
The press conference, held at Volusia County Beach Safety Headquarters, promoted the Helping Heroes program, an initiative launched by Moody last year to provide free naloxone to first responders. The Volusia Sheriff's Office, Ormond Beach Police Department, DeLand Police Department, Daytona Beach Police Department, Ponce Inlet Police Department and South Daytona Police Department have all joined the program.
"We know this will go a long way to saving lives during spring break and throughout the rest of the year as Florida successfully combats this drug overdose crisis," Moody said.
In 2023, 112,000 people in the U.S. died of a drug overdose. In addition, Moody reported that a lethal dose of fentanyl was found in seven out of 10 pills tested by the Drug Enforcement Administration in 2023.
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said parents need to educate their children who are out on spring break. Often times, he said, those who press pills using fentanyl make them appear like other "party drugs" — Adderall, Xanax or MDA.
"They think they're buying this stuff off the street, or they're buying it from a classmate, therefore it's good stuff," Chitwood said. "In reality, it's laced with fentanyl."
Naloxone saves lives, said Kevin Captain, director of Volusia County Emergency Medical Services. In 2023, EMS was involved in almost 1,000 cases in which naloxone was administered and saved lives.
"This medication gives people a second chance — a second chance at life," Captain said. "Spring break is more dangerous today than it ever was before because of what we're talking about that's on the black market."
The Helping Heroes program, he said, ensures local first responders have naloxone stocked and ready to be administered, both nasally or intravenously.
Volusia Recovery Alliance Executive Director Karen Chrapek said that since the end of 2021, her nonprofit organization has given out over 18,000 Narcan kits, with reports of 197 lives saved. She said she's grateful for community partnerships and said Chitwood has helped open doors in reaching out to first responders in need of help with drug abuse.
"We're committed to reducing stigma and part of the way we do that is to show up with our friends in law enforcement," she said.
