ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings sent out a warning to citizens Thursday about the dangers of heroin following a recent increase in overdoses.
Demings issued a reminder to those in the community of the pitfalls of heroin use. Narcotic agents found there have been 101 drug overdoses from Jan. 1 through Feb. 15 and of that number, 70 were heroin related. There were 28 heroin overdoses during the same time period a year ago, representing a 150 percent increase.
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But overdose deaths during the same time period have decreased by 56 percent. The sheriff's office attributes the decline to swift action by the deputies and use of Narcan, a nasal spray that counteracts the life-threatening effects of an opioid overdose.
Since July 1, 2016 Orange County deputies have used Narcan 55 times, according to the Sheriff's Office.
"People who buy illegal drugs are playing Russian Roulette with their lives,” Demings said. "They have no idea what the drugs are cut with, or their potential potency.”
The spike in central Florida overdoses follows a national trend of increased heroin use in recent years.