Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs went to Washington D.C. to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform as a key witness on the heroin epidemic sweeping the nation and Central Florida. Congressman John Mica conducted the National Oversight Committee Hearing and invited Mayor Jacobs to speak about her Heroin Task Force.
“We know we’re not alone in this,” Mayor Jacobs said in her congressional testimony. “But like others, we were initially fighting pill mills. Orange County worked to ‘outlaw’ them and to provide resources for breaking opioid addiction. Today, the battle is tougher than ever. Too many prescription drug abusers have found an inexpensive and too often deadly alternative: Heroin.”
Mayor Jacobs warned that too many people simply don’t understand the actual severity of the threat posed by heroin. According to her testimony, Orange County has already had seven heroin-related deaths in 2016, including four deaths in a single weekend. “Barely a week goes by without someone dying of an overdose,” she said.
Last year, approximately 2,000 heroin users moved through the local jail system. Many of the arrests were not for heroin possession, but rather other offenses related to heroin addiction, Mayor Jacobs said. Her testimony included tragic news that 100 expectant mothers were housed in 2015 for addiction to opiates or heroin. “On any given day at Corrections, we have pregnant heroin users under our care,” she said.
“Despite Central Florida’s strengthening economy, extraordinary quality of life and soaring reputation, heroin use has exploded. In 2015, we had 82 heroin-related deaths in Orange County, compared to 19 in 2011,” Mayor Jacobs said. “To save lives, the county needs an engaged community, as well as federal and state help.”
To focus on the growing heroin problem locally, Mayor Jacobs formed the Orange County Heroin Task Force last July, with Sheriff Jerry Demings as co-chair. According to Orange County officials, the Task Force concluded its efforts last week, delivering 37 targeted recommendations, from increased bond and trafficking penalties to social media campaigns warning young people about the deadly nature of heroin, as well as additional education, training and treatment to fight the addiction.
“I need you to know that we, in Orange County, are doing everything we can with the resources we have,” Mayor Jacobs told Congress before pressing for federal support to stop the influx of drugs across the border, help local governments treat more addicts and educate people on the drug so they will never even try heroin.
“We need your help to stop the influx of drugs across the border, and help us treat more addicts,” Mayor Jacobs said. “Right now we only have 26 beds for the uninsured. With a regional population of 2.5 million, we need to do better, and we need to educate people so they never try this deadly drug in the first place.”
Others who testified before the House Oversight Committee include Director for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, The Honorable Michael Botticelli; Deputy Assistant Administrator for Diversion Control for the Drug Enforcement Administration, Mr. Lou Milione; Acting Administrator for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Ms. Kana Enomoto; and Health Commissioner for the City of Baltimore, Dr. Leana Wen.
