Scott: Opioid abuse a state health crisis

The opioid epidemic is a statewide public health emergency, Gov. Rick Scott declared Wednesday, clearing the way for Florida to immediately tap into $27 million in federal funds that many said would save lives.

The move came one day after testimony in Orlando that the opioid crisis has escalated sharply and pleas for the governor to take action. It also came as Florida legislators wrangling over the state budget restored $2.5 million in funding for Vivitrol, the drug being used in an Orange County Jail pilot program to thwart the opioid cravings of addicts. The amount is half of what was budgeted last year.

“We’re so relieved that Vivitrol funding has remained in the state’s budget and we’re grateful for the governor’s executive order,” said Orange

County Mayor Teresa Jacobs, who had appealed to legislative leaders not to cut a program that has helped offenders stay clean and sober. “This is a milestone day for Governor Scott … and most importantly for the countless families and individuals who have been and continue to be devastated by this epidemic.”

Scott had been criticized for his inaction on the issue. The governor had previously declared states of emergency for the recent wildfires and the Zika virus. But Wednesday he vowed to do “everything possible” to combat the epidemic.

“Families across our nation are fighting the opioid epidemic,” Scott said in a prepared statement. “The individuals struggling with drug use are sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and friends, and each tragic case leaves loved ones searching for answers and praying for help.”

In 2015, opioids were responsible for more than 33,000 deaths nationwide and nearly 3,900 deaths in Florida. In unincorporated Orange County alone, 23 people have died of an opioid overdose in the first three months of this year.

Most immediately, the order clears the way for the distribution of an already approved $27 million in federal money that would otherwise take several months to implement.

The grant — which provides another $27 million next year — will expand medication-assisted treatment and services for mothers of drug-addicted newborns and increase access to naloxone — the drug used to reverse the effect of opioids in an overdose.

Scott said he was instructing Florida Surgeon General Dr. Celeste Philip to issue a standing order for the drug, which makes it more easily available for law-enforcement agencies, treatment providers and emergency responders.

The declaration drew widespread approval.

Orlando attorney Kendra Jowers, legal counsel for a drug-treatment program, welcomed the news after testifying Tuesday that Scott needed to do more.

“When I heard, it was glorious,” she said. “I couldn’t have awakened to better news. To have to wait for this funding to come through [the traditional channels] would only have meant more deaths.”

Though it’s not clear yet how much of the money will come to Central Florida, Carol Burkett, director of the Orange County Drug Free Office, said she expects that the bulk of the funds will go to treatment.

Statewide, about $3.8 million will go to Vivitrol, she said, and over $17 million will be used for methadone and other drugs for the poor, uninsured and under-insured who are addicted to opioids.

The money will be distributed to communities based on the number of opioid-related deaths and estimates of the number of people who abuse the drugs.

The grant also will pay for naloxone kits and overdose response training, behavioral-health consultants for child-welfare workers, peer-mentoring programs and other initiatives, state officials said.