Shed light on opioid crisis

Florida voters can expect to hear a lot during this election year as the debate heats up over the state’s opioid crisis. This week one of the Democratic candidates for governor, former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, blasted state Attorney General Pam Bondi for not following through yet on a pledge she made last month to file a lawsuit to recover damages from opioid manufacturers for the state’s costs from the crisis. “Words are meaningless without action,” Graham said. Bondi’s office said it is still interviewing attorneys who would file the suit. The stakes are huge: In 2016, more than 5,700 Floridians died of overdoses from heroin and related legal and illegal painkillers.

We’ll do our best to shed more light than heat on the crisis in the Orlando Sentinel’s next Florida Forward forum. We’ve assembled a diverse panel of experts to discuss the scope of the crisis, what approaches are working, and what more might be done. Our experts include Carol Burkett, director of the Orange County Drug Free Office and coordinator of the Orange County Heroin Task Force; Dr. Adema Adewale, who leads Florida Hospital’s anti-opioid efforts and was co-chair of the Task Force’s Health Care Subcommittee; Danny Banks, the special agent in charge of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Orlando region and co-chair of the Task Force’s Law Enforcement Subcommittee; and Dr. Michael Deichen, the executive director for the University of Central Florida Student Health Services and co-chair of the Task Force’s Treatment Subcommittee.

Join us for our 90-minute conversation at 8 a.m. Tuesday in the Camelia Room at Harry P. Leu Gardens in Orlando. Doors open at 7:30 a.m. for coffee and registration. Opinions Editor Paul Owens will moderate, but audience members also will have a chance to ask questions. While this is a free event, space is limited, so go to OrlandoSentinel.com/FloridaForward to reserve a seat today.