The Opiate Scourge Affecting Florida State

Over 8 percent of Floridians interacted with illicit drugs in 2011. At first glance, this figure appears small but closer interrogation reveals this is almost the national average. In fact, this represents over 1. 5 million Floridians. With such a massive population, you’d also expect drugs to have a devastating effect. Many of the users are reported to be highly addicted according to a survey conducted in 2013 and 2014 which found at least 410,000 Floridians had used or are dependent on illicit drugs. However, the consequences are far more devastating with the death rate in Florida in 2010 being above the national average. At least 3,181 Floridians died due to drug use. Put into perspective, this is more people than those who’ve died due to guns or accidents.

One of the major causes is opiate addiction. This touches on heroin and prescription painkillers which have drawn many Floridians into addiction in the past decade alone. In fact, deaths and overdose resulting from opiates have been on the rise from 2010 with some reported cases of a heart attack.

The Drug Hub

Since the 1980s, Miami has been the center stage of drug trafficking. In 2014, the DEA cracked down on drug traffickers and in the process seized close to $20 million associated with drugs. This means Florida came in third after New York and California.

Florida forms a key piece of the drug cartels’ puzzle, especially with the favorable geographical position. The state is the closest to Latin America compared to other states. This means drugs of all types from cocaine, methamphetamine to heroin arrive in this state in tons.

This drug trade continues to attract a lot of young people because of the fast money, but the consequences are far-reaching. Violent crime is now more real than ever due to the trade. In fact, Florida ranks fifth in crime rate which stands at 540 per every 100,000.

The DEA says Florida is home to at least 25,000 criminal gang members most of whom are responsible for the drug operations in the retail level. These gangs hold certain territories where they establish a sales monopoly. Often, acquiring these territories ends up in extreme violence which results in numerous lives lost.

The Sinaloa cartel based in Mexico enjoys near monopoly and it uses this to control the trade. for example, when the state cracked down on opioid use, the cartel used this opportunity to flood the market with heroin. Both causing an opiate scourge in Florida.

The Opiate Scourge

Early 2010 saw a new trend in the drug crisis and Florida was at the center of the nationwide trend. Prescription painkillers formed the new addiction and numerous Floridians were trapped in this menace. What made this crisis worse was the legal availability since anyone could buy them over the counter.

It all started with rogue medical professionals who produced the synthetic opioids and flooded the market with them. The buyers could find them branded as OxyContin and Vicodin which posed the same danger as morphine and heroin.

The doctors opened pill mills, which is the term used to describe the unethical clinics, and this is how they worked. The buyers would come in and the doctors would prescribe massive opioid doses. They would then pay cash and head to the streets where they’d resell them for a handsome profit.

As a result of the thriving business, these clinics performed well. In fact, the business was moving so much cash and opioids that the doctors had to hire criminals to keep competition at bay while also maintaining also securing their cash and junkies.

This new trend trapped thousands of Floridians in an addiction cycle and this led to an abuse of these opioids for those who didn’t need them for medical purposes. However, even patients who suffered from legitimate pain due to surgery and injuries were not left behind in this new craze. Many of the legitimate patients fell into addiction without their consent because doctors prescribed a higher dosage of the opioids than needed. This then led to an overdependence of the drug for the unsuspecting patients.

In 2010, the situation went from worse to worst when 7 Floridians succumbed to opioid poisoning every day. The state then cracked down on rogue medical professionals by enforcing laws around the doses opioid patients could access. In addition, they created a database which tracked all prescriptions. With the law enforcement hot on their heels, the pill mills collapsed one by one and the doctors became reluctant when prescribing opioids. When they did, the dosage was low.

While these efforts save many lives from ruin, not many addicts were lucky since they were already trapped in the addiction cycle and continue to abuse opioids to date. The heartbreaking statistic from all this menace is 5 Floridians die every day due to opioids. With reduced access to prescription drugs, another problem came to the light. Heroin addiction

Coping with Reduced Access

To cope with the pill mill collapse, addicts in Florida fell right into heroin to mitigate withdrawal effects. Now, they could get it straight from the source and in quantities they wished. To make matters worse, heroin is cheap. For only $10, you can get a bag of it.

With such a free market and numerous addicts waiting on the drug, it’s no surprise when heroin-associated deaths spiked 900 percent between 2011 and 2014. South Florida, in particular, was the worst hit with state recording a rise of 245 percent in heroin deaths. A number of these deaths resulted from heart attacks due to the high doses.

However, for heroin addicts, death is only one of the devastating fates they may face. One of the ways the addicts introduce the drug into their bodies is through injections and many of them share needles which contribute to increased bloodborne diseases, the worst being HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C.

This made Florida lead other states in the US in new HIV infections from 2012 with Miami-Dade and Broward being the worst-hit counties. The opioid menace continues to grow every day despite efforts from law enforcement to curtail the trade. The effects go beyond the addicts. People around them, friends and family, continue to feel the burden of living with an addict.

Rehab is a viable option for victims trapped in the addiction cycle. Once there, trained psychologists and counselors can guide them out of the addiction. Pair this with support from close friends and relatives, even the most severe addiction is possible to treat.