Federal Drug Czar Dr. Rahul Gupta announced last month more than $276 million in new funding for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program.
“The Administration has now invested more dollars than any previous administration in terms of getting treatment more accessible, getting nalaxone or narcan across into more communities,” said Dr. Gupta.
That funding will go toward treatment and prevention of addiction, in addition to cutting down drug trafficking.
The South Florida HIDTA received more than $14 million. This covers Lee, Collier, Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, and St. Lucie counties.
Gupta says that expanding treatment and investments into local communities, like the HIDTA funding, is working.
Currently, an American dies of an overdose every 5 minutes. But, that rate has been on the decline.
In January 2021, the overdose death rate increased 31% year-over-year. The Department of Health & Human Services said the rate fell 3% in 2023 — the first decline in more than five years.
According to the CDC, more than 7,000 Floridians died from drug overdoses in 2023.
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