TAMPA -- Florida's attorney general says she's "cautiously optimistic" about new numbers on deaths related to drug overdoses.
Ashley Moody tells reporters that new statistics from local medical examiners around the state show that overdose-related deaths dropped seven percent during the first six months of 2023. Deaths from fentanyl and opioids fell ten percent during that time period.
Moody credits law enforcement efforts, saying our state leads the nation in fentanyl seizures. She also points to efforts to help people overcome addiction, and to putting anti-overdose drugs such as Narcan in easy reach of first responders and the general public through drug stores.
But Moody also accuses the Biden administration of undermining drug control efforts through border policies, which she says encourage fentanyl producers and smugglers.
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