NATIONWIDE — A new report released this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows fentanyl deaths across the nation have skyrocketed by more than 1,000 percent from 2011 to 2016.
- DEA: More than 2,000 deaths in Florida last year related to Fentanyl
- Report shows deaths totals have been doubling since 2014
- Fentanyl killed 18,335 in the U.S. in 2016
- More Health stories
Fentanyl killed thousands of Floridians last year, according to Mike Furgason, the DEA Agent in Charge of the Tampa District Office.
“When you look at the Florida area, there were more than 2,000 deaths last year related to fentanyl,” he said. “That when you specifically drill down into Tampa, we’re talking 400-plus deaths attributed to fentanyl.”
That’s more than 20 percent of all fentanyl-related deaths happening in the Bay area.
“The fentanyl epidemic is here,” Furgason said. “We cover 10 counties, we see it in almost every county that we cover.”
According to the CDC report, fentanyl deaths have been doubling since 2014. The synthetic opioid killed 18,335 people in 2016, making fentanyl the deadliest drug in America.
“We have approximately 190 Americans dying every day,” said Furgason. “It’s unfathomable.”
Furgason added that he believes it will take a holistic approach to stop the fentanyl epidemic.
“It has to be an anti-drug awareness campaign. There has to be enforcement,” he said. “There has to be regulatory as well for the prescription drugs that are either illegally diverted or over-prescribed.”
Finally, Furgason said the holistic response should include a faith-based approach where addicts can seek help from recovery organizations.