Florida Office of the Attorney General issued the following announcement on Jan. 10.
Attorney General Ashley Moody, Chair of the Statewide Task Force on Opioid Abuse, convened the team’s first meeting of the new year. The meeting focused on advanced law enforcement tactics and tools to improve drug interdiction efforts and combat the opioid crisis claiming 15 lives a day in Florida. The group also heard from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration about enhancing the way local, state and federal law enforcement agencies work in tandem to stop the deadly influx of fentanyl into Florida.
Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “Law enforcement officers are on the front lines of the fight to end the deadly opioid crisis, and we need to make sure Florida is equipped with the latest tools and tactics to stay a step ahead of criminals trafficking fentanyl into our state. The meeting was extremely informative to that end and I am excited to see how Florida can adopt and advance some of these innovative strategies to stop opioid abuse and save lives.”
The meeting at the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office marked the fourth meeting of the Statewide Task Force on Opioid Abuse since it’s inception. Task Force Members heard from a DEA cybercrimes expert about drug trafficking on the dark web and how Florida can strengthen its cyber border to reduce the influx of fentanyl.
Task Force members also listened to a presentation about effectively prosecuting opioid overdose death cases, sober home enforcement, postal drug interdiction strategies, problem-solving courts and more. The meeting is the forth meeting of SWTFOA. The inaugural meeting of the Task Force in Tallahassee in October. In November, at the second meeting of the Task Force held in Pasco County, Attorney General Moody announced a 10 percent decrease in opioid-related deaths in Florida.\ Attorney General Moody convened the Task Force in Miami for the final meeting of 2019 in December.
The Task Force is charged with developing a statewide strategy to identify best practices to combat the opioid epidemic through education, law enforcement efforts, treatment, prevention and recovery. The Task Force will then present its findings to Governor Ron DeSantis, Senate President Bill Galvano and House Speaker Jose Oliva.
Governor DeSantis issued an executive order earlier this year creating the Task Force and naming Attorney General Moody chair.
Original source can be found here.