The total number of drug overdose deaths in Florida increased by 22 percent from 2015 to 2016, with opioid-related overdoses increasing 35 percent, according to a report compiled by the state's medical examiners released Wednesday and cited by The News Service of Florida.
The rise in opioid-related overdose deaths in the state is largely attributable to a sharp rise in fentanyl-related deaths. Fatal overdoses involving fentanyl surged 97 percent in Florida from 2015 to 2016.
"Imagine if we had a plane crashing in the state every month," Sen. Jeff Brandes, state Senate criminal and civil justice appropriations chairman, R-St. Petersburg, told The News Service of Florida. "That's about the amount of people who are dying every month due to opioid addiction. We must put the same effort that we would put into a plane crashing every month and stopping that into this opioid addiction. It's going to take an all-hands-on-deck approach to this."
Florida medical examiners tallied 5,725 deaths related to opioid overdoses in 2016.
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