Broward County, the State of Florida, and the United States are facing an opioid addiction epidemic. The Centers for Disease Control reports that opioid overdoses have quadrupled between 1999 and 2015, including more than 183,000 deaths caused by prescription opioid overdose between 1999 and 2015, and today more than 90 Americans die each day from an opioid overdose, with nearly half of such deaths involving a prescription opioid. The Florida Medical Examiners Commission reports that opioids were responsible for nearly 3,900 deaths in the State of Florida in 2015, and were either the cause of death or present in the decedent in 5,725 deaths in the State of Florida in 2016, a 35% increase from 2015.
On October 26, 2017, President Donald J. Trump declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency under the Public Health Service Act, which authorized access to the Public Health Emergency Fund. At the time of President Trump's declaration, the Public Health Emergency Fund held approximately $57,000. Significantly greater funding would be available if a national emergency were declared. A national emergency declaration under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act would authorize access to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Disaster Relief Fund, which receives an annual appropriation of approximately $6 billion.
Substantial federal resources are necessary to address and implement steps to fight the opioid crisis, as well as to confront the extraordinary burden and devastating impact that opioid addiction has on our community and the entire country. |