FDLE: Drug Deaths Increase Across The State

Daytona Beach, FL – A report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement says the number of drug-related deaths in the state have increased by 17 percent overall throughout 2020. That accounts to 2,134 more individuals killed by drugs than the year prior. The same report found that 7,842 opioid related deaths—where opioids were identified as either the cause of death or merely present in the deceased—were reported, equating to a 28 percent increase or 1,714 more deaths than the year prior. Meanwhile, there were 6,089 deaths reported where opioids were found to be the main cause, which is a 42 percent increase over last year. The report goes on to state that prescription drugs were found in deceased individuals more often than illicit drugs, both as the cause of death and just merely being present at death. But fentanyl was found to have killed more overall, with over 5,300 deaths reported throughout the state. In just the Daytona Beach area alone, 301 fentanyl deaths were reported in 2020. Of those deaths, eight were said to be directly related to fentanyl, while the remaining 293 deaths found fentanyl in combination with other drugs. According to the FDLE’s 2019 annual report, only 119 fentanyl deaths were reported in the Daytona Beach area. The report also found that deaths related to cocaine are up locally as well, with 127 deaths reported in 2020, with just 76 reported in 2019. Heroin deaths are also up in the Daytona Beach area, climbing from 34 deaths reported in 2019 to 44 reported in 2020. The FDLE’s full report can be found here.