MIAMI.- As part of his ongoing battle against opioids, Ron DeSantis, Governor of Florida, ratified two legal bills, SB 718, which toughens penalties against people who expose law enforcement officers to fentanyl, and SB 66 , which designates June 6 as Opioid Overdose Awareness Day.
“SB 718 establishes that any adult who, through the illegal possession of fentanyl or its analogues, exposes a police officer to that drug and as a result suffers an overdose or serious bodily injury, we will prosecute it as a second-degree felony.” DeSantis said at a press conference this Monday, April 8 in Orlando.
“There are still many people surprised (by our actions) because they do not know that fentanyl does not even need to be ingested for it to produce its lethal effect. If you come into contact with the residue of this drug it is tremendously dangerous”
“There are situations where law enforcement personnel go to a call where fentanyl is involved and they are really putting their life at risk.”
“If an officer asks you if you have drugs in your possession and you lie and the officer ends up exposed to fentanyl, suffering harm, we will hold you responsible and apply the full weight of the law,” which will go into effect on October 1, 2024. .
The objective of the new rule is to safeguard the lives of police officers, “we want to ensure that all people who wear uniforms are protected and this is an important step to achieve this,” he assured.
The governor also referred to SB 66, called Victoria’s Law, which designates June 6 as Revitalize Awareness Day about the dangers of opioid overdoses and tasks the Florida Department of Health to raise awareness about the dangers of opioid overdoses and the safe use of medications with the ability to reverse the effect of opioids.
Governor DeSantis also announced the expansion of the Coordinated Opioid Recovery Network (CORE) from 12 to 17 counties. Now, it covers Bay, Broward, Collier, Hernando, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Leon, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Okaloosa, Orange, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole and St. Lucie.
While national statistics show that over the past year only 18.8% of adults with opioid addiction have received medication to treat their addiction, CORE far exceeded the national average with 48.9% of patients who received medication-assisted treatment, the governor’s office said.
“CORE providers have responded to nearly 18,000 emergency calls resulting in a life saved through the administration of naloxone, a medication that can reverse an overdose of opioids – fentanyl, heroin and prescription opioid medications.”
With the launch of CORE, which is the first network of its kind in the US, Florida has seen a reduction in the number of calls to emergency medical services needed in the event of a drug overdose. Recent statewide data shows 607 fewer EMS exits for suspected overdose calls, a 3% decrease from 2022.
Thanks to programs like CORE, overdose deaths are decreasing in Florida. The data shows a 9% decrease (557 fewer deaths) from September 2022 to September 2023, compared to the state’s count from the previous year.
CORE aims to destigmatize addiction and treat substance use disorder as a disease that receives ongoing care.
Every year, more than 100,000 Americans die from drug overdoses, a crisis now catalyzed by fentanyl, said the Florida president, who last year sent National Guard troops to the state of Texas to reinforce the border with Mexico.
“This is not a Texas problem, it’s an American problem,” DeSantis said after criticizing the federal government’s open-door policy.
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