Escambia County had 680 drug overdoses last week
Why this matters: Escambia County last year topped the list of opioid overdose deaths in Florida, earning the county CORE funding from Gov. Ron DeSantis for a pilot program to disrupt the opioid epidemic.
- CORE stands for Coordinated Opioid Recovery. This program was successfully piloted in Palm Beach County for nearly two years. Last August expanded the program to 12 counties: Brevard, Clay, Duval, Escambia, Gulf, Manatee, Marion, Pasco, and Volusia.
- CDAC announced the stunning overdose stat yesterday at the Escambia County Opioid Abatement Funding Advisory Board meeting. The board sets priorities and recommends how the county should spend its funds from the opioid settlements. Last month, it recommended spending $25K on Narcan vending machines.
Dig Deeper:
Escambia County is expected to receive over $10 million from the opioid settlements. The Lakeview Center and CDAC (Community Drug and Alcohol Council) told Escambia County Opioid Abatement Funding Advisory Board that Escambia County has several gaps in drug abuse presentation and treatment.
Lakeview talked about DAART (Drug Alcohol Adolescent Residential Treatment), which it shut down four years ago because of the lack of referrals from local judges. The program housed 16 to 20 teenagers at a time, costing about $1 million to run. Before restarting the program, Lakeview’s president, Shawn Salamida, recommended a need assessment to determine the demand for a residential facility for adolescents.
The demand may be bigger than it was in 2019. Lakeview’s Edna Williams said, “I do believe for adolescents, there is a pretty robust amount of opiate dependence.”
CDAC said that the need for treatment and presentation programs for opioid abuse is “across all ages and socio-economic groups.”
Jail visitation issues continue
What this matters: Criminal defense attorneys have problems seeing their clients at the Escambia County Jail in violation of a 1976 court order.
- The new jail – which primarily serves as a pre-detention facility for those awaiting trial – was built to be more like a state prison claim defense attorneys. The facility was designed for attorneys to visit with their clients via a Global Tel Link video system.
- According to attorney Gene Mitchell, global Tel Link has a track record of unsatisfactory performance, horrible reviews, and giant-sized class-action settlements.
- Attorneys complained the video only worked two-thirds of the time and only for brief conferences. Jail officials have made one small room available on each floor for unobstructed lawyer visits, and lawyers wait hours for the rooms to be available.
Dig Deeper:
The best authority on this issue is a 1976 federal case tried in Pensacola (Mitchell v Untreiner 421 F.Supp 886). Pubic Defender Ron Shelley brought a civil action against Escambia County Sheriff Royal Untreiner. This case resulted in an order that, among many remedies, included the following pertinent ones:
- Attorneys representing inmates in the Escambia County Jail shall have access to said inmates at any time within 12 hours of arrest. Normal visiting hours for attorneys shall be between 6am and 10pm daily;
- Immediate steps shall be taken to furnish adequate facilities for attorney-client communications. Attorneys shall be given priority for the use of these facilities.
Read these letters: 20230201174603656 and 172303587 Letter.
Pensacola getting its first major skatepark event on June 10
Why this matters: Upward Intuition needs sponsors for the Blake Doyle Skatepark’s Opening Day event.
- Jon Shell hopes to build an event similar to the Tampa Pro. He needs to show that Pensacola and the surrounding community will support a skateboard event to attract major sponsors for 2024. Pensacola could become part of the Pro skateboarding circuit.
- The Opening Day will have a clinic for kids, exhibitions by pro skaters, best trick contests hosted by the local skate shops, food trucks, and live music. All the details are on upwardintuition.org.
Dig Deeper:
This could be the start of something big. Skateboarding is the third most commonly reported interest for high school students (24% of girls and 17% of boys), according to Aspen Institute National Student Survey Analysis 2021. There are 8.8 million skateboarders in the U.S. – up 34% from 2019.
U.S. Senator Rick Scott sent congratulatory letters to the 2023 Power List honorees. Another first for Inweekly.