Deadly opioid epidemic gripping Broward, panelists say

Hard on the heels of the successful war against the designer drug flakka, an opioid epidemic is gripping Broward County.

Last year, opioids killed 582 people, almost two a day, in Broward. Craig Mallak, the county’s chief medical examiner, says that figure will likely exceed 1,000 in 2017.

“It’s just been a nightmare,” Mallak said. He was one of several panelists who spoke Saturday afternoon at a town hall-style meeting in Pompano Beach organized by the Broward Sheriff ’s Office to address the crisis.

Mallak said he is further troubled by a growing number of cases of “polysubstance abuse,” in which victims are using a variety of drugs, from heroin to synthetic marijuana, vaping alcohol, and a cornucopia of ever-morphing synthetic drugs that have become more potent and dangerous.

Pompano Beach has been hit harder than any other community in the county, according to the panelists.

“My drug detectives and deputies are working at a feverish pace,” said John Hale, Pompano’s police chief. He said overdose victims are being found in alleys, fast-food restaurants and hotels, and that deputies are actively investigating suspected drug houses and dealers.

Many of the same agencies that were able to make a substantial dent in the flakka epidemic have come together for this war. The Community Action Team is led by the United Way of Broward, the Broward Sheriff ’s Office, Broward County Public Schools and several hospital organizations.

At times, the town hall meeting at the E. Pat Larkins Community Center seemed more like a chemistry class, as experts described how designer drugs have been manipulated to stay one step ahead of the law in the country of origin — China. One tweak

of a molecule and a new drug is created.

When the flakka crisis was fullblown, a team of law enforcement officials and others flew to China to lobby the Chinese government to crack down on the labs creating those drugs.

The new effort will focus on drug education and prevention in schools and lobbying in Tallahassee to get more money for anti-drug programs.

Heather Davidson, the director of public policy and advocacy for the United Way of Broward County, said the action plan includes working with students and school staff, from bus drivers to cafeteria workers to teachers, to make them better aware of the signs of drug abuse.

Nora Rupert, a Broward School Board member, said the epidemic has affected her family personally. Last Thanksgiving morning, her daughter’s best friend overdosed.

“It’s an insidious epidemic … not one more child or one more person in Broward needs to die,” she said.

Linda Taylor, who attended the meeting, said she used illegal drugs for more than two decades, primarily crack cocaine. She was arrested and went to prison multiple times. She stopped using on May 24, 2000, after hallucinating and running down a busy street and almost getting hit in traffic.

“You lose everything,” said Taylor, 53.

“I was on the brink of losing my mind, but I held on for one reason: to talk to these kids to get them off it. I’m an advocate for Pompano.”