FLORIDA: Illegal Drug Deaths Have Skyrocketed in the Sunshine State Since Legalizing Marijuana

In 2014, Democrat John Morgan decided that he wanted to legalize the use of marijuana in Florida. His first attempt in 2014 failed. However, on December 17th, 2015 the Florida Supreme Court approved a constitutional amendment, drafted by  John Morgan and United for Care, that called for the legalization of medical marijuana. The state ruled it valid for placement on the Florida 2016 ballot.

Because of John Morgan and United for Care on November 8th, 2016, Floridians voted in favor of Amendment 2.

Today a variety of Cannabis Based Products (CBP) are now available in most Florida supermarkets and pharmacies including CVS, Walgreens, Publix and Walmart.

Fast forward to today and we find the Florida Department of Law Enforcement reporting, “There were a total of 134,396 arrests for Drugs/Narcotics Offenses reported in 2018. Of these arrests, 5,404 were juveniles and 128,992 were adults.”

Marijuana as Gate-Way Drug

Many studies have looked at marijuana to determine if it is a “gateway drug” that leads to the use and abuse of other drugs, both legal and illegal.

The National Library of Medicine published a paper titled “Cannabis as a Gateway Drug for Opioid Use Disorder” by professor Arthur Robin Williams. Professor Williams noted:

[O]ne study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics documents findings from one analysis that adolescents who use cannabis are 104 times more likely to use cocaine than adolescents who never use cannabis. There are significant differences between these two populations of adolescents predating the onset of cannabis use. These observations are often used by proponents of cannabis legalization to disregard the possibility that the adolescent use of cannabis may, in and of itself, create de novo risk for the use of opioids or other drugs that otherwise would not exist. This review discusses recent scientific discoveries that address neuropathophysiological mechanisms whereby cannabis use could biologically introduce additional risk for the likelihood of opioid initiation, dose escalation, and OUD that otherwise might not occur within the same individual.

Drug Deaths in Florida

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) published a report on opioid related drug deaths in Florida.  They NIDA report stated:

Nearly 68% of the 4,698 reported drug overdose deaths in Florida involved opioids in 2018—a total of 3,189 fatalities (and a rate of 15.8) (Figure 1).

• Deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone (mainly fentanyl and fentanyl analogs) remained stable but high with 2,091 in 2018 (a rate of 10.7).
• Deaths involving heroin and prescription opioids also remained steady with a respective 689 (a rate of 3.5) and 1,282 (a rate of 6.0) reported in 2018.³

If you look at Figure Figure 1 you will find the following:

• Since 2015 heroine deaths have risen from less 500 in 2015 to 2,091 in 2018.
• Prescription opioid deaths have risen from under 1,000 in 2015 to 1,282 in 2018.
• Synthetic opioid deaths have risen from under 500 in 2015 to 2,091 in 2018.
• Overall opioid deaths have doubled from 1,500 in 2015 to 3,189 in 2018.

In the 2020 Florida Medical Examiners Commission Report “Drugs Identified by Deceased Person” found.

The State of Florida’s Bureau of Vital Statistics reported 243,088 deaths in Florida during 2020. Of the 44,577* deaths investigated by Florida’s medical examiners, toxicology results determined that the drugs listed below were present at the time of death in 14,708 deaths. The medical examiners assessed whether the drug(s) identified was the cause of death or merely present at the time of death. The data were then submitted to the Medical Examiners Commission (MEC) for presentation in this report. It is important to note that each death is a single case, while each time a drug is detected represents an occurrence. The vast majority of the 14,708 deaths had more than one drug occurrence.

Here are the “other” drugs listed in the Florida Medical Examiner report:

• Cannabinoids
• Carisoprodol/Meprobamate
• Cathinones
• Cocaine
• Gabapentin
• GHB
• Ketamine
• Mitragynine
• Sympathomimetic Amines
• Synthetic Cannabinoids
• Zolpidem

The Bottom Line

According to an October 6th, 2020 Forbes article titled “More People Were Arrested For Cannabis Last Year Than For All Violent Crimes Put Together, According To FBI DataEmily Earlenbaugh reported,

Currently 33 states allow for at least some type of medical cannabis use and 11 allow for adult recreational use.

[ … ]

The data from the FBI’s report revealed that police arrested 545,602 people for cannabis related crimes in 2019. That arrest rate is 9% higher than the 495,871 people arrested for violent crimes the same year. And those being arrested for cannabis aren’t just those making money from selling, growing or manufacturing the drug – they are mostly just people who use cannabis. The vast majority of these arrests (92%) were for simple possession of the drug. 500,395 of those arrested for cannabis were simply found in possession of cannabis. Even if we take out all the arrests for being involved in unregulated cannabis commerce and just focus on arrests for cannabis possession, the numbers still outpace arrests for violent crimes.

[ … ]

“Police across America make a marijuana-related arrest every 58 seconds,” explains Erik Altieri, the Executive Director for cannabis advocacy group NORML.

Read more.

On Thursday, February 17th, 2022 in Port Everglades, Florida the U.S. Coast Guard seized about 54,500 pounds of cocaine and about 15,800 pounds of marijuana worth $1.6 billion on the street.

Florida has a serious drug problem and the legalization of marijuana (cannabinoids and synthetic cannabinoids), has not helped Floridians but has in fact killed Floridians.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse:

In 2018, Florida providers wrote 53.7 opioid prescriptions for every 100 persons, compared to the average U.S. rate of 51.4 prescriptions.

On March 16th, 2022 Attorney General Ashley Moody warned Floridians of a new, deadly synthetic opioid found in Florida called Isotonitazene—commonly referred to as ISO. According to reports, ISO is approximately 20 to 100 times stronger than fentanyl—an already incredibly dangerous opioid. Similar to fentanyl, this new synthetic opioid is being mixed with other drugs and appearing in the illicit drug market—possibly in powder or pill form. Often, users have no idea that a lethal synthetic opioid is mixed into a drug until it is too late. Attorney General Moody is sounding the alarm and asking people to never take an illicit drug because just one pill can kill.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said,

“For years, we have been warning about the dangers of fentanyl and how just one pill laced with this synthetic opioid can kill. Now, there is a new, deadlier drug being found in Florida. Isotonitazene, also known as ISO, is so strong that it can kill just by coming in contact with someone’s skin or being accidentally inhaled. ISO has already been linked to overdose deaths in Florida, so please, never take any illicit drug and know that using just one time could cost you your life.”

Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said,

“ISO is a dangerous substance that we have, unfortunately, seen in Pasco County. As law enforcement continues to have to address the healthcare crisis of substance abuse, our goal remains to save lives and protect our community, which is why we have highlighted and brought awareness to the impact this dangerous substance has in our community.”

Since 2015 more and more illegal drugs are flowing into the Sunshine State and harming our youth, all thanks to the efforts by John Morgan and United for Care to legalize marijuana!

CLICK HERE FOR: Florida Department of Law Enforcement: 2020 Crimes against Society by County Data

Thanks John, for nothing.

©Dr. Rich Swier. All rights reserved.

RELATED ARTICLE: More People Were Arrested For Cannabis Last Year Than For All Violent Crimes Put Together, According To FBI Data

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